


Third Ryder

by Gamergirl2170



Series: Third Ryder [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Bad Writing, Custom Alec Ryder, Custom Ellen Ryder, Custom Female Ryder | Sara, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, How Do I Tag, I don't even know anymore, I'm not good at writing action, Kidnapping, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Overprotective Female Ryder, Papa Drack, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Slow Burn, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-08-24 04:29:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16632956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamergirl2170/pseuds/Gamergirl2170
Summary: The kid sister of the infamous Ryder twins, awakens. She's being put of Aya of all places, to become the Ambassador for humanity. And where should she stay, but with the gruff, overbearing, emotionless Evfra's. Cassie Ryder has chosen this place so that Josie can be safe, Evfra has chosen for her to stay with him so that leader of the Angaran Resistance Forces can keep an eye on the new Ambassador. Nobody ever said that Evfra had trusted the humans completely.One small hitch. He doesn't know that she even exists. She doesn't know that he doesn't know.This should be interesting.PART OF A NEW SERIES!





	1. Awake and Alive

 

_"This path began a long time ago. A course paved through human history that took us across continents, oceans, and ultimately...to the stars. For us, this planet is home. It's protected us, challenged us, provided us the foundation to become galactic citizens. But the time has come to prepare ourselves for a future beyond the Milky Way. A future that begins 600 years from where we stand. In a time and place among unknown stars and unseen dangers. And so we issue this call to the brave, the inquisitive. To the trailblazers of the human race. As an invitation to stand on the shoulders of those who came before, and challenge yourself to go further." - Alec Ryder_

 

Bolting upright from the pod, my breath rips from my throat in a ragged gasp, my head pounds and my throat aches as if I’ve spent a century screaming, my eyes flick from face to face, met with strangers until my eyes land on the familiar face of my sister, my chest heaves as she presses forward, kneeling before me to grab me into a hug. I cling to her as she cards her fingers through my red hair as the people behind her and around me chatter, my eyes press shut as tight as I can, before I take a deep breath, swallowing as I pull back, looking into Cassie’s bright blue eyes. “What. Happened?” I rasp as Cassie frowns, and stands as she grabs my hand, slowly helping me to my feet as a familiar gray haired, dark skinned man, the closest thing to my dad’s best friend, comes over. “Harry!” I cry, coughing as dry pain ripples through my throat, he smiles as he holds out a bottle of water to me.

 

“Hey, kid.” He greets, placing a hand on my head as I sit on one of the medical tables, unscrewing the cap of my water, and downing it, feeling the cool water brush and stream down my throat, soothing the ache there. “We’re going to check your SAM implant now, okay?”

 

“Alright.” I look at Cassie as she smiles at me, crossing her arms over her chest, cocking her hip as Harry walks over to the console beside my table.

 

“SAM, are you online?” Harry asks, causing me to shutter as there is silence, fear fills me for a moment, before a buzzy sort of robotic voice answers aloud.

 

“Yes, Doctor. Hello Josie, how are you feeling?” SAM asks, causing me to grin.

 

“Hey SAM,” I answer the AI, feeling like I’ve been reunited with a long lost friend, seeing as I helped dad build the AI. “long time no see!”

 

“It is good to see you again, but I am afraid you have yet to answer my question.” SAM responds, causing me to smirk.

 

“I’d feel a lot better if Cassie would tell me what’s happened. Other than that, I feel good. Happy to be awake.” I finally answer his question.

 

“Neurological scans indicate high levels of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, indicating that you are happy.” SAM answers, causing Harry to nod as he walks over to stand before me, opening his omni tool to scan me, going through the list for the check up, and once he deems me well enough, I stand to walk over to the door, where Cassie is talking to an unfamiliar guy with dreads, and scruff.

 

“Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I demand without a care of interrupting their conversation, causing the guy to fall silent as he stares at me.

 

“Holy hell, Cassie-” His voice is smokey, a british accent hints at his tone. “It’s a miniature redheaded you!”

 

“That would be because she’s Lysander and I’s little sister.” Cassie points out, causing the guy to raise an eyebrow at me.

 

“You mean there are _more_ Ryders?” I roll my eyes as I look at my sister, sighing impatiently as she shakes her head.

 

“It’s best for you to wait until we’re aboard the _Tempest_ with Lysander.” She states, holding her hand out to usher me forward, and I cross my arms over my chest, cocking a hip as I glare at her.

 

“Where’s dad?” I urge, causing Cassie to stall, frowning as she grabs my arm, tugging me off to the side of the corridor, just outside the medical bay. As she finally lets go of me, I whirl around on her, my glare pinned on her as the guy lurks nearby, not close enough to eavesdrop, but enough to guard us, and keep others from trying to eavesdrop. “Cassie, _where_ is dad?” I insist, causing her to frown.

 

“Dad’s dead.” Her words strike me true, causing me to gape at her.

 

“What?” I gasp.

 

“Dad’s _dead_.” Cassie snarls. “Dad’s dead, the golden worlds didn’t pan out, Lysander was in a coma, and Mom’s still alive.” I choke as my breath hitches, eyes widening as I stumble back, catching myself against the wall behind me, struggling to get a grip on the words she’s spewed.

 

“Th-Then Cora’s Pathfinder?” I finally choke out, looking up at her in expectation.

 

“No, dad passed down the role of Pathfinder to me, and I think I managed a damn good job at it.” Cassie answers, she parts her feet, locking her hands behind her back, making her look relatively military- if not for the pink streak in her hair, and black and blue sweatpants and the black muscle shirt with Blasto on it. “We have a home, _multiple_ homes.”

 

“Then why wake me now? I understand that you have this power, but I wasn’t due to come out of cryo- unless there was an emergency that requires me specifically- until the very _last_ batch of defrosts.” I state, causing Cassie to sigh.

 

“We found a new alien species called the Angara- very emotional, very huggy, and to give them more of a say, I put their Political Icon in an ambassador position on the Nexus. This has lead to her suggestion of having a “Ryder” stay on Aya as an ambassador.” I frown as I tossle my deep cherry red locks, blinking my one blue and one green eye at her.

 

“You chose _me_ for an _ambassador_ position? Send Lysander, he was part of the Alliance Peacekeeping system, not me!” I cry out, causing her to huff.

 

“I would, except he’s helping out on our main planet, Meridian. He’s clearing out pockets of enemies that managed to escape, and help set up outposts.” Cassie explains. “Besides, you’re my little sister, I’d feel better with you planetside in a place where I know you’d be safe- The Angaran Homeworld is perfect. Especially because Moshae Sjefa- the Political Icon- has managed to get the Military Leader to relent to let this new “ambassador” to stay with him at his house.”

 

“Are you _kidding_ me?! A live-in babysitter?!” I throw my arms above my head, groaning as they fall on my head, and I dig my nails into my scalp. “I’m a _cook_ , and engineer, expendable! Not some political ambassador that will probably end up _offending_ this new race, in some way!” I cry out.

 

“You’ve seen the workings of-”

 

“You just want me under a protection duty because I’m the youngest!” I huff, dropping my arms to cross my arms over my chest, and clench my hands into fists, tight enough that my nails bite into the palms of my hands. “You know what? Whatever. Ditch the kid sister as always!”

 

“We’re not ditching you, Josie! We just want-” I scoff, turning to stalk up the stairs, effectively cutting her off as she rolls her eyes, and she catches up at the top with the guy with dreads. “This is Liam, by the way.” Cassie states, causing me to nod to the guy silently as we climb onto the tram, and I sit on the seat closest to the door, watching my sister and the young man talk in hushed voices in the corner. Before long, the tram stops at the docking bay, so I stand to follow Cassie and Liam towards the ship, bite my lip all the while.

 

“Where’s my crate?” I finally ask, tugging at the Initiative Regulation clothes. “I wanna change.”

 

“On the _Tempest_ , in the captain’s quarters- You can change once we’re on board.” Cassie answers, causing me to huff as she opens a door, and we cross a platform to climb on board a sleek black and white Spacecraft of fine make, obviously a very dedicated team put her together. Cassie leads through the empty ship as Liam branches off towards the Cargo Hold, after a minute, we enter a large cabin between two ladders, and Cassie gesture to my Initiative Regulation crate sitting before a black leather couch. I plop down before it on the couch as Cassie leaves. Throwing open my crate to pull out a pair of old fashion, faded dark blue jeans with the knees torn, I set them beside me before I pull out my faded, light blue denim vest, a black short sleeve shirt with a black choker, and my dark gray arm warmers. I make quick work of shedding the uniform, tugging on my favorite outfit that I packed, braiding back my hair with my Initiative issued hair ties, letting the braid smack my waist as I continue to dig through the crate, seeing whatever else I packed. I have my tool belt with tools still on it, three books of recipes, two hundred packs of veggie and fruit seeds of various assortments, twelve boxes of cocoa, a small box of exotic cocoa beans, some old holopictures, assorted spices, and my own boxes of amino-dextro friendly recipes, along with a large bag that was flattened at the bottom, and at the _very_ bottom, beneath everything else, is my favorite pistol. Lifting the pistol, I examine the blue and black M-3 Predator, trailing my finger across the names etched into back of the handle, my smile spreads as I study the names ‘Xanthe Shepard’ and ‘Garrus Vakarian’, two of my idols I had been lucky enough to meet. Commander Shepard, herself, had given me the pistol after she watched me tackle her Geth companion on the Citadel- she laughed at me before telling me that I’d better succeed on taking down Geth with a gun, then gave me her spare as I stood and stared at her in shock.

 

“Josie!” I jump, snapping from my reverie as the gun falls back into the box, meanwhile I’m tackled from behind by my brother, his arms tight around my neck as I gag.

 

“Need.” I smack his arm, causing him to yelp, releasing me as I take a large breath “Air.” I breath out, and turn to glare at Lysander, who stands behind the couch with a huge grin on his face, his brown hair spiked up, his green bangs stands further up than the rest of his hair, his blue eyes sparking mischievously. “I had a pistol in my hand.” His face falls.

 

“Oh, sorry.” He grins, hopping over the back of the couch, and plops down beside me as he nudges me. “I missed you.”

 

“Missed you too, Lys.” I answer, nudging him back with a grin before, I pull the bag out of the bottom of my crate, and start to pack my belongings away. “Been keeping out of trouble?” I taunt. Lysander and I have always gotten along best, it’s great to see him alright.

 

“By keeping out of trouble, you mean banging the hot drive core engineer… yes.” Lysander grins cheekily, and I roll my eyes.

 

“You sure work fast, I haven’t even _met_ the new species, and I’m apparently, I’m the new ambassador on their planet.” I explain, causing him to frown.

 

“They’re not bad, maybe I’ll introduce you to Jaal- Cassie’s boyfriend, an Angara, good guy, good friend. His boss is hot. That’s who you’ll be staying with.” Lysander offers.

 

“That’d be awesome, Lys.” I hug my brother real quick, before zipping up my bag, and hooking my gun to my belt loop. “Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

“Jocelyn, Cassie wishes me to tell you that we are to touch down on Aya in one week.” SAM chirps from his console on the desk across the room.

 

“Alright, thanks SAM.” I state as I close my crate, and Lysander clings to me once again.

 

“Boo! You just got out of Cryo, and you’re already being sent to work!” Lysander groans, laying his head on my own as I huff, and shove him off, lifting my bag from the floor to drop the bag on the couch, before I cross to the door, and Lysander perks up. “Right! Jaal! Let’s go!” He grabs my arm, leading me down the hall, and up the elevator in the cargo bay, before tugging me towards the tech lab. The door opens to reveal a burly purple alien with his back to us. “Jaal, man, meet Cas and I’s kid sister.” The Angara turns to us, revealing a cat-like structure for his face, and eyes that are wide, the orbs reflecting like space, and is irises are like looking at Earth from a space transit. “She’s gonna take the ambassador position on Aya.”

 

“That…” The Alien, Jaal, starts to rumble in laughter. “Is going to be hilarious!” Jaal smiles down at me. “You are rather small, compared to your siblings.”

 

“I take after our mom. I’m the runt.” I smirk at him, causing him to blink, before booming with laughter once more, slamming his hand into my back, none too gently, causing me to wince. “Ow.” I mutter under my breath, causing him to smile apologetically.

 

“Angara are rather free with their emotions, Josie. All of ‘em, except for Evfra.” Lysander explains, causing me to nod. “Jaal, I brought Josie so she could learn about your race, firsthand.” Jaal looks at me, before his nods in understanding.

 

“I will teach you, but it is better to learn in person.” Jaal’s voice has a natural echoing undertone, just like the Turians, like subharmonics. “Thought,” Jaal smirks. “Evfra is not exactly what qualifies as usual Anagara.”

 

“What?” I ask, causing Jaal to pause, before blinking.

 

“That was a _joke_.” Jaal explains, causing me to pause, before I nod.

 

“Oh. Sorry, I’m… uh… calculating and processing everything.” He tilts his head at me, before Lysander places a hand on my shoulder.

 

“Shock.” Jaal nods at that.

 

“Perhaps I have something that may help.” He offers, causing me to look at him in confusion, my head tilted a bit as he gestures towards the door, Lysander steers me out the door as the large Angaran follows, leading us towards the galley which opens to reveal a scarred Krogan with skin and plates of varying shades of brown and gray, and yellow armor standing before the stove, a rather appetizing scent coming from it. “Sit.” Jaal says, causing me to nod, settling on the bench beside Lysander, while Jaal rustles around in the cabinets.

 

“Who’s the runt?” The Krogan asks, eyeing me with beady yellow orbs.

 

“Drack, this is Josie. She’s Cassie and I’s little sister.” Lysander introduces. “We had to wake her up for the Ambassador position on Aya.” The Krogan looks at me as I smile at him, causing him to blink, before he grabs a bunch of fruit, a tube of paste, and a few things of protein bars, dropping them all on the table before me.

 

“Eat.” He rumbles, causing me to stare at the miniature feast before me, before looking at Lysander, then Drack, who points to the food again. “ _Eat_!” He growls.

 

“Drack, ease up.” Lysander says with shoulders quaking with laughter. “She just woke up!” Drack huffs, before he grabs the fruit and protein bars, putting them away as I stare at the leftover paste tube.

 

“I believe this is Drack’s way of saying that you are rather small.” Jaal says, walking over with a metal mug steaming in his hands, settling across from me as he presses the mug towards me. “Or that he is worried about your size. Please, drink, it will help.” I tilt my head at him in curiosity, bringing the mug to my lips before I take a large sip of the steaming liquid, the flavor that explodes across my tongue is heavenly, warmth spreading through my cold body from my fingers to my toes.

 

“This is heavenly.” I murmur, giving a soft smile as he nods.

 

“This is a tea, we call it _Anj-set-vesoan_ ; Anchor to Explorer.” Jaal explains. “It helps with the shock.

 

“It tastes like Oranges and Raspberries with a small amount of vanilla.” I state, causing Lysander to nod excitedly as he takes the food paste tube to open it for me.

 

“It does, but it’s made with stuff from Aya, the Anagaran’s main world.” Lysander explains, causing me to smile as I eat some of the paste, before taking another drink of the tea.

 

“Thank you, Jaal.” I say as he nods.

 

“My pleasure.” He answers. “I believe now would be a good time to explain the culture of my people. Starting with my people had been at war with the Kett for 80 years.”

 

“Uh… Kett?” I ask, causing Jaal to look at me in confusion, before looking at Lysander, who looks at me in confusion as well.

 

“Cassie didn’t explain?” Lysander asks, causing me to shake my head. “Alright, maybe we should start from when _we_ landed in Andromeda, and go from there.” I sip my tea, waiting for my brother to continue.

 


	2. I Am Me

 

Walking down to the Engineer deck, my bag thrown over my shoulder as I walk over to the Armory, the door slides open to reveal Vetra scuttling about the armory, tossing things onto her desk. “Vetra.” She turns to me, surprise on the turn mercenary’s face.

 

“Jocelyn.” She blinks, before smiling as she eyes my bag. “Leaving already?”

 

“We land in ten minutes. Look, I had a bit of a strange request…” I rub the back of my neck, biting my bottom lip as Vetra smirks, placing a talon on her hip.

 

“I owe you for the packets of tomato seeds, what do you need?” She asks, causing me to clear my throat, blushing for a moment, before toeing the steel floor of the Armory, and she drops into her wheely chair, rolling across the floor as she watches me.

 

“It’s uh… Can you find some ice skates?” Vetra blinks, my request taking her by surprise, well and truly, before she locks her talons together as she scans over me for a minute.

 

“Ice skates?”

 

“Yeah, I mean, I dunno if Aya gets a cold season, and if they do, who is to say that it’s cold enough for the water to freeze, or they won’t think it’s blasphamis to skate around on their lakes, or some stuff, it’s just…” I swallow thickly, glancing at the floor as I bite my lip once more, toeing the floor with my boot.

 

“You ice skated at home?” Vetra asks, causing me to nod, my face blazing in embarrassment. “Cassie said you didn’t go near water.”

 

“ _Water_ not ice. I love to ice skate, it’s just… a long story.” I answer, causing her to hum, her subharmonics echo through the room, before she nods.

 

“Alright, I’ll dig around and see if I can get some skates. If not, I’ll find someone who can make you some.” Vetra answers, causing me to gape before I bound up to her in excitement, throwing my arms around her.

 

“Thank you, Vetra! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” She laughs, patting my back in a platonic hug, the two of us smiling at each other as I pull away. “Good luck with Evfra.” She calls before I duck out of the Armory to walk over to the storage, Liam being my next stop on the far well train, already having done Peebee, Lexi, Suvi, Cora, and Gil. The storage door shoots open to show the HUSTL specialist doing pull ups on the bar I managed to proffer for him through some trading deals, he drops down from the bar as I enter the room, smiling on his face fading as his eyes land on my bag on my arm.

 

“Leaving already, Firecracker?” He asks, causing me to grin at his nickname, dropping the bag at my feet. “Whatever shall I do without you?”

 

“Waste away in the boredom of having nobody to sharpen your wit with.” I answer, causing him to grin once more as he stoops in to press a kiss to my cheek, wrapping his arms around my middle in a hug.

 

“I will miss you, Firecracker.” He murmurs as he hugs me, causing me to shake my head, leaning back to flick him in the nose.

 

“I’ll miss you too, Romeo.” He wrinkles his nose at the flick and nickname, beaming at me as he glances at the door, before he stoops down to grab my bag.

 

“I don’t wanna say bye yet. Lemme walk you out.” He states, causing me to roll my eyes as I start out the door.

 

“We have landed _yet_. I still have to say bye to Drack, Jaal, Kallo, Lysander, and Cassie.” I point out, causing Liam to shrug.

 

“Knowing Drack, and his protective nature that he’s started hovering over you with, he’s going to refuse to be left on the ship while we drop you off, and forget about Jaal not visiting Aya while we’re there. He’s going to want to walk you out as well. Kallo will be upset if his new tech friend doesn’t bid him goodbye, Cassie has to take you to Evfra herself, and Lysander is- _of course-_ standing right in the middle of Engineering, waiting for you.” He says as my brother stands there, pouting as I roll my eyes, holding open my arms. Lysander dashes across the Engineering floor to throw his arms around me, squeezing me as if he’ll never see me again. “I’ll take your bag to the airlock for you.” He shoots as he leaves the room.

 

“Lys!” I groan. “AIR!” I smack him on the shoulder, causing him to drop me as I let out a squeak, inhaling deeply as he rubs his shoulder, pouting with his puppy-dog eyes are I wrap my arms around his waist, giving him a light squeeze that he returns, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

 

“I love you, Josie.” He murmurs in my ear. “Don’t be a stranger.”

 

“You know I won’t.” He coos at my answer, squeezing me again as I relent to release him, ducking out of his grip before he crushes me again, he gives me a ‘hmph’ with a pout, which vanishes as I lean up to press a kiss to his cheek, before I twirl away from his grip. “Good luck with Evfra!” He calls a I am ducking around the Nomad, I shoot a confused look over my shoulder. Entering the hall to pass by the medbay and crew quarters to enter the Galley where a pouting Drack is hovering, pretending that he isn’t pouting. “Hey Gramps. You gonna pout to the point where you miss me leaving?” He huffs in response, causing me to smirk, rolling my eyes as I cross my arms over my chest, pretending to look at my nails with complete interest. “I’m gonna be on Aya for a few years, at _least_. Maybe I’ll find an Angaran Guy for myself, like Cassie. Settle down. Get married. Adopt a few kids. Never have to worry about the Initiative again.” Drack turns on me, glaring down at me.

 

“Not unless I approve of him first!” He booms, causing me to laugh.

 

“ _No_ Drack, I wouldn’t ever think of that!” I cackle, causing Drack to grunt as I reach up on my tiptoes to throw my arms around his hump, and he pats my back in return.

 

“You’re a good kid.” He states in a warm voice, causing me to grin at him as I step back.

 

“Thanks Gramps, not so bad yourself.” He chuckles at that, giving me a sharp toothed grin as I reach up to press a kiss to his face, right next to his eye. “You guys will be on Aya before ya know it. Bringing pictures and videos of them grandbabies, taunting me with delicious fruits and drinks.” He nudge him as he nods.

 

“Uh-huh. You need to get going, half-pint, you can’t be late to your own welcome party.” He gestures me out the door, causing me to give him a cheeky grin, before the door shuts as I climb the ladder, walking down the glass catwalk to enter the tech room, where Jaal is struggling to piece together a Milky Way Rifle.

 

“Hey, Flying Purple People Eater.” I greet, causing him to turn to me.

 

“I still do not get that. I do not fly, nor do I _eat_ people.” He rumbles as I roll my eyes.

 

“I told you, it’s just an old Earth thing. There was a song about it. It’s just a joke.” He nods before he pauses in his fumbling with the rifle component, tossing it on the table to walk over to me, swinging me up in a hug, his skin crackles with electrical currents as I giggle at the tickling sensation left behind. “I’ll miss you most, Jaal.”

 

“And I will miss you as well, _tavetaan_ .” He rumbles in that throaty voice of his, his subharmonics echoing with lingering emotion as tears burn in my eyes. I never expected to get so close to the people on the Tempest in the week of traveling, but I had. A sad day to be leaving, losing a part of me that I hadn’t realize had attached to me. But, despite all that, I was _still_ the Ryder twins little sister. I wasn’t my own person yet. Maybe on Aya I could become my own person.

 

“Josie,” Kallo comes over the intercom. “ETA three minutes.”

 

“You must go.” He murmurs, placing me down, I can feel my hair sticking up in random places from his electrical current. “I will be back to visit you.”

 

“Yes.” I nod, smiling a bit sadly. “I will see you after a short while. Time will fly.”

 

“Time does not fly- oh, Idiom. Yes.” Jaal smiles at me. “Good luck with Evfra.”

 

“Everyone keeps saying that.” I shake my head. “I don’t think he’s as bad as everyone’s making out.” Jaal gives me what looks like a grimace as I shrug, backing out of the tech lab to start towards the bridge, where Kallo stands to greet me with a hug, while Cassie stands at the map, chatting with Liam. His wiry arms round my shoulders momentarily, in a barely there hug, before the Salarian smiles at me, the exchange is brief, knowing that he isn’t one for affection, and as he goes back to his seat as I walk over to Cassie and Liam, just as we enter the atmosphere of the planet, and my breath is immediately stolen. The planet is green and lush, with waterfalls that fall into the mist covered abyss below, white and blue buildings stick out of the rock sides of the planet, there are even areas covered in lava and black rock, the sights are pretty and terrifying at the same time, much like I’ve learned the residents can be at times.

 

“Welcome to Aya.” Cassie says, causing me to look at her, before looking back at the beautiful planet. “Headquarters of the Angaran Resistance.” She looks me over with a grin, her blue eyes glimmer with interest at my reaction. “Now, uh, there is something that I need to tell you.”

 

“I’m going to live here?” My voice is full of awe, causing Cassie to pause as we touch down. “This is where I’m going to live?” The awe in my voice is shaky now, at best, as I struggle to take deep breaths, looking down as I clasp my hands behind my head, trying to calm myself. “Wow, I mean… It’s beautiful.”

 

“Firecracker, what’s wrong?” Liam asks.

 

“That’s… a _lot_ of water.” I answer almost immediately.

 

“It’s alright, nobody’s going to force you to go near the water.” Cassie soothes, rubbing my back, right between my shoulder blades as I take deep breaths, inhaling through my nose and out through my mouth.

 

“Okay,” I answer after a moment. “I feel better. I’m fine.” I state truthfully, feeling pressure and anxiety lift off my shoulders as Cassie nods.

 

“Alright, let’s go meet your new neighbors and friends.” She says, causing me to swallow thickly, nerves eating at my skin as I nod, the three of us start towards the airlock, which opens as Liam hands me my duffel bag, which I sling over my shoulder as Lysander dashes in.

 

“Lys?” He grins at me.

 

“You didn’t think I’d just let you leave without me at least seeing you off, did you?” I grin up at my big brother, nudging him as he wraps an arm around my shoulder, the four of us start down the ramp as I look around the landing pad in awe. There are Angarans of various size, color, and shape crowding the docking bay as I shrink under their gazes, they obviously know what I’m here for, but they aren’t opposed to making their curiosity known in their gazes or their whispers.

 

_“What is it?”_

 

_“She, not it.”_

 

_“How can you be sure?”_

 

_“She’s so tiny.”_

 

 _“She must be what the call a_ **_child_ ** _.”_

 

_“Really? I didn’t think there were any children.”_

 

_“What’s wrong with her eyes?”_

 

_“Her hair is unusually bright.”_

 

 _“So, this is Evfra’s charge?”_ That last one is loudest, closest, causing me to blink as I look up, seeing a smaller purple Angaran with blue irises on black scleras, she has a small bridge on her face that is similar to a human nose, her shoulders are smaller, where are her waist billows out a bit to represent something akin to hips, though she looks similar to Jaal, and most of the other angarans around us with the folds of flesh that extends to their chest. Just like Jaal, she also has similar leg structure like Quarians or Turians, the hand she has extended to me has three fingers webbed together like Jaal, with two others, causing me to look at it curiously before I slowly reach out to take it. “I am Moshae Sjefa.”

 

“Jocelyn… Ryder.” I answer, my voice is weak due to my nerves, causing her to smile as another Angara steps forward, she’s built like the Moshae, but she’s blue instead of purple, her eyes are also smaller, the look in them is inquisitive, to say the least, a hint of mistrust buried in her blue irises.

 

“I am Paaran Shie, welcome to Aya, Ambassador Ryder.” I wince at the title with my last name, not noticeably enough for anyone to say anything as she takes my hand, shaking it for but a moment, before she lets go, the two of them start to lead us through the large city. “Your job will entitle diplomatic meetings with Angaran representatives where _you_ represent the Nexus, together you must talk through things such as trade, land, and laws. You must also bring awareness to the Nexus about things that the Angara refuse and agree to, you will settle citizenship amongst the humans on Angaran planets, when and if you have authorization to do so. Each new citizenship and law must go through myself and Evfra, paperwork must be filled out accordingly, and sent in before the deadline each week.” Paaran Shie explains, which I scribble out on the omni tool on my wrist, the instructions are simple and easy to follow, but I know there will be much more work entailed than what I am just writing down.

 

“You will have your own office with a few assistants on Aya to work out of.” Moshae Sjefa intervenes as soon as she can. “And here,” We come to a stop at large white doors with a green lock. “Is where you will meet Evfra. I am sure he will be as surprised as I was.”

 

“W-What?” I ask, causing her to look at my sister, before laughing.

 

“Oh, there’s not good.” Liam says, he presses a kiss to my cheek. “Later, Firecracker.” He dashes off as I look after him in confusion. The door opens as Cassie and Lysander leads me into the office, a large blue Angaran man is barking orders at others from behind his desk, the others scramble to follow them, passing by as they shoot me inquisitive looks, causing my brow to furrow as we stop before the desk, the room is now empty, save for Lysander, Cassie, the blue Angara, and myself. He’s large, larger than some of the other Angara that I’ve met, imposing with a scar from the crest of his neck, down to his lip, curiosity is unbidden as he glares at me with intimidating eyes. Different than the friendly ones of Jaal.

 

“Ah, Ryder and her brother. What trouble do you bring for me, now?” His voice is deep, commanding respect and vigilance without room for question, causing me to shrink back a bit, Lysander’s hand grabs my shoulder before I can disappear, Cassie’s arm comes to circle around my waist at the same time.

 

“No trouble. Your new ambassador.” Lysander spins me around as Cassie pushes me forward, causing me to stumble into the desk, peering up at the tall Angara, my heart pounds and rattles around in the cavern of my chest.

 

“Hmm…” He regards me with an observing eye, before looking at my siblings. “Name?”

 

“Jocelyn… Ryder.” He scowls at that, looking at my siblings.

 

“How many of there _are_ you?” He demands, causing me to flinch, visibly this time, looking back at Cassie, who looks like the cat that ate the canary.

 

“This is the last one, other than my mother.” Cassie answers with a smug grin, Evfra grunts.

  


“If it makes you feel any better, Josie’s not as bad.” Lysander states.

 

“She’s worse.” Cassie jokes, causing me to glare at her.

 

“You are _worse_ than your sister?” Evfra asks me, causing me to look back at him, shrugging.

 

“I am _me_ , there’s no comparison. Cassie is Cassie, Lysander is Lysander, and I am me. Cassie make think I’m worse than her, but to be fair, before the initiative, she hadn’t talked to me for 5 years. That’s when I was eighteen, and a rebel. I’m not eighteen anymore, I’m twenty-three years old now. I’ve matured.” I retort with a sharp tone, causing him to eye me, before he bids my siblings off with a wave.

 

“I wish to speak to your sister for a moment.” My siblings look between themselves, before looking at me as I shrug, the two of them disappear out the door as I look back at Evfra. “You are an adult?”

 

“Yeah yeah, I know, I’m small.” I drop my bag at my feet, crossing my arms over my chest. “I get the size from my mother. Next question.” He seems taken aback at my attitude.

 

“You seemed to flinch at the comparison to your sister. Why?” He asks, pressing on the table.

 

“I am _not_ just ‘Ryder’s sister’, I’ve lived my entire life being ‘Ryder’s daughter’ and now that I’m out of that shadow, I’ve been thrusted into my sister’s shadow, and right next to it, as always, is my brother’s shadow as well. Do you know how hard it is to get out of such a large shadow?” I shake my head. “I’m Jocelyn, or Josie. Not ‘Ryder’s sister’ or ‘Ryder’s daughter’. I am _me_.” I state causing him to nod.

 

“Weapons training?” He asks.

 

“Zip.” He looks confused. “None. No training.”

 

“ _None_?” His tone is indifferent, the light lit at the end giving into his surprise. “You are an ambassador, where you never threatened? Kidnapped? Or were you always protected?”

 

“Ha! I’m _not_ an ambassador.” I answer. “I am a _cook_ and an engineer.”

 

“I do not understand.” Evfra states.

 

“This is for _protection_ . I don’t have any experience for this. I’m living with you for protection. Cassie’s decided that I’m going to need a live-in babysitter, that means that _you_ are apparently the best choice to keep me out of mischief.” I explain, leaning on the desk as Evfra’s scowl deepens. “Look, just because I don’t have experience, and that she may have put me here for protection, doesn’t mean that I’m not going to give this my best. I’m not the type to be petty and damage things for people. I _will_ do my best in this position.” He seems surprised to hear the conviction in my voice.

 

“Arrogance.” He growls, his subharmonics relaying disappointment in my words.

 

“Not arrogance. I know that I’m not the best person for this job, I _will_ mess it up at least once, but I’m willing to learn and put what I learn to my best.” I state. “So, talk down to me if you want, but I refuse to give up this position now that I’ve made up my mind. I _want_ this position.”

 

“Alright.” I blink at his one word.

 

“Alright?”

 

“I will show you to my house at the end of the day. The Moshae will show you to your office, you should acquaint yourself with your assistants and your work space.” Evfra gestures towards the door, causing me to look at him skeptical for a moment, before I turn to walk out, snatching my bag up on the way. The door opens to reveal a set of very worried twin siblings, and the Moshae standing a few feet behind them, they look at me as I walk past them, and the Moshae smiles.

 

“I will show you to your office.” She says, causing me to nod as to leads me away, Lysander and Cassie follow behind, confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check my Tumblr for updates!  
> https://gamergirl2170-arts-updates.tumblr.com/


	3. I'm Coming Home

 

My office isn’t small, but it isn’t overbearingly large, white walls with a window that is facing the waterfalls outside, three large desks sit against that wall, while further back on a step is a larger desk, complete with a holoscreen, and multiple files that are empty, waiting to be filled. At the three desks are two female Angara and one male, looking up as the Moshae and I enter, their faces are full of curiosity as I study them as they do the same to me. One female is a mauve color, with a blue and green rofjin around her shoulders, the one beside her is a fade blue almost green colored female, with a purple and orange rofjin around her shoulders, and the man is a deep blue, deeper than Evfra, with a white and green rofjin around his shoulders. “Moshae, is this her?” The mauve angara asks, causing me to grin.

 

“Hello!” I greet. “I am Jocelyn Ryder, please call me Josie. I am glad to be able to meet you before our work together begins.” They seem surprised at my greeting, before the greenish blue one steps forward, smiling as she hugs me.

 

“Greetings Josie! I am Sorala Tireti Sjal.” She greets as she pulls away, causing me to stumble back from the strength of her hug. “You must have had _quite_ the journey!”

 

“Uh, yes. It was a little long, but I’m glad to finally be here.” I answer with an enthusiastic smile, the other two step up, the mauve woman hugs me next.

 

“Josie, my name is Onsi Ade Kjaav. Welcome to Aya.” She’s quieter, that’s my first impression as she lets me go. Skeptical, almost, about following a human’s instructions, she’ll take the longest to warm up to me.

 

“I am Nohvfris De Dirsje.” The male says, causing me to frown as he doesn’t step up to hug me, nor does he even hold out his hand to me. Correction, _he_ will take the longest to warm up to me. I amend the frown on my face to a smile as Sorala and Onsi siddle right up to either side of me.

 

“Ignore Nohv. He’s uncomfortable with humans.” Sorala says, causing me to nod.

 

“Sora means he’s uncomfortable with his _attraction_ to humans.” Onsi grins, causing Nohv to yelp.

 

“Not true!” He shouts.

 

“Oh yes it is!” Sora taunts, causing me to laugh as we walk over to my desk. _Maybe it won’t be so hard to get along with them._ I think as I drop my bag on my desk, Lysander and Cassie linger in the doorway, almost hesitant to come in, to intrude on my place for once.

 

“You guys gonna come in, or stand there like a bunch of listless weirdos?” I ask, causing the Angarans to turn to my siblings, blinking as the two of them enter the room. “You guys know my sister? Cassie Ryder.” Sora and Nohv gasp, stars gleaming in their eyes. “This is my brother, Cassie’s twin, Lysander.” I introduce, causing the two of them to grin like they’re meeting a celebrity. _Which I suppose is what Cassie is to them._ My mind helpfully supplies. “They can’t stay, unfortunately, but I thought that I’d introduce you guys. Nohv and Sora are quick to shake my sister’s hands, before introducing themselves, supplying my brother the same treatment, while Onsi is more hesitant, giving them a once over before giving a squeak that passes as her name, and shakes their hands. After the excitement dies down, I step out of my office area to bid my siblings a warm goodbye, hugs and promises of visits pass, before they start back to the docking port, and I turn back to see the three Angarans pressing up against the windows on either side of the door, faces squished against the glass.

 

Smiling to myself, I shake my head as I enter the office area once more, the three of them smile as I start over to the desk, taking out a holoframe, that Lysander gave me, out of my bag, pictures from Earth, the Citadel, and now the Tempest are flicking past the screen in a slideshow, pictures continually being added from the multiple omni-tools that are linked to the frame. Smiling again, I set the frame on my desk, a new picture of my friends on the Tempest and myself slides into place, causing me to shake my head, the words scribbled across the bottom of the photo causes me to feel nostalgic. _Sayanora Twerp!_ I look up to see the three Angarans staring at me, questions dancing in their eyes. “Since we’re gonna be working together for quite a while, why don’t we all get to know each other?” I offer easily, causing Nohv and Onsi to look at each other, before Sora stands to move over to a couch that I hadn’t noticed further behind me, accompanying the couch is two chairs, all the furniture looking like they’re made of some kind of gel solution, the rug the rest on looks kind of like it’s made of leafs, of orange, red, and yellow. Standing myself, I walk over to the couch to sit beside her, the other two joining us after a minute. “There’s an old Earth game that we used to play in school, to get to know other students. We called it 20 questions. Would you like to play?”

 

“Alright.” Onsi answers instantly.

 

“I’ll go first!” Sora says, enthusiastically. “Are Cassie and Lysander your only siblings?” Her accented voice and subharmonics roll their names across her tongue in a rich manner, like she’s tasting a rich wine, and enjoying the taste beyond words, leaving me breathless for a moment before I can find my voice to answer.

 

“Yes, though we’re not as close as we used to be.” I answer truthfully. “My turn, now-”

 

“Wait.” I stall in my words as Onsi interrupts me, looking sadly at me. “You guys aren’t close?” I frown as I look at all three of the aliens before me.

 

“Oh, yeah, Angarans highly regard family, don’t they?” I let out a sigh, rubbing the back of my neck as I bite my bottom lip. “Earthlings… well a _lot_ of Milky Way Aliens, aren’t like that.” I look up at them as I clasp my hands together. “We just… didn’t talk after my mother died. When I woke up in Andromeda, I found out that she didn’t really die, but my dad did die. We had some disagreements about this position that I have, and things just got more and more tense.” I rub my neck once more. “We pretty much stopped being a family after my mother died.”

 

“Can’t you fix it? She’s not truly dead, so you should be alright now.” Nohv asks, causing me to shake my head.

 

“The damage is done. We’ll never be close again.” I answer, causing the three of them to look so sad, before I clear my throat. “This is suppose to be fun! Okay, how many siblings do you guys have?”

 

“Thirteen.” Onsi answers. “I’m the youngest.” **_That_** _explains a lot._

 

“Twenty-three.” Nohv says next, his shoulders firm like a soldier. “I’m the eldest.” _That too_.

 

“Eighteen!” Sora chirps happily. “Middle child!” _Typical middle child peppiness. Lysander had that innocent peppiness at one point, he still is peppy, but there’s something there._ My thoughts are reminded of that hard look in my brother’s eyes, it echoes in sister’s eyes, only ten times firmer like a rock that lines her eyes, causing me to frown. Before mentally shaking my head as Onsi squares her shoulder’s, obviously having her next question at the forefront of her mind.

 

“Are you any good with fighting?” She asks, taking me by surprise.

 

“Uh, not really? I mean, I can fight hand to hand, but not enough that I could take a trained fighter down.” I let out a light laugh. “My dad was a bit of a hardass about learning to at least be able to fight hand to hand.” I let out a huff. “What about you guys?”

 

“We’re all part of the resistance.” Nohv answers, causing me to nod.

 

“Right, and that means? I mean, I was in Cryo until a week ago.” I point out, causing them all to blink.

 

“Right!” Sora bounces. “We’re all proficient in multiple types of fighting.” She answers causing me to nod.

 

“Cool.” It continues on like that for well over 20 questions, the four of us laughing and joking all the while, after a few hours we start on paperwork, Sora and Nohv showing me the ropes, and before Onsi and Nohv leave for dinner, while Sora finishes up with the paperwork at her desk, before leaving as well. It’s well into the day, the sun starting to set, before the door opens to reveal the imposing, scarred up Resistant Leader standing there.

 

“Are you ready to go?” He asks, causing me to glance up at him, the light about the desk the only one on.

 

“Uh, two more minutes.” I state, typing at the holoscreen to finish up the paperwork for laws to be put in place for Equality on Eos, Evfra, to my surprise, doesn’t argue as he waits for me to finish up my work, worrying my lip between my teeth, before I save it. Turning the holoscreen off, I flip the holoframe off along with the light above the desk, grabbing up my bag before I walk over to Evfra, looking up at the imposingly tall blue alien. “Thanks.”

 

“Hmm.” He answers with a simple grunt, causing me to frown, worrying if I had just inconvenienced him somehow. He doesn’t make another noise as he turns to walk out of the office area, leaving the Resistance area all together, before he leads me through the city, opening a door to the common living area, the metal floors shift to actual soft and worn dirt, either side of the walkway have greenery and colorful plants pressing in on the walkway, a bit suffocating with lovely smells mingling in the air. “Avoid the pink plants, they give off a slime that is toxic to humans.” He warns, causing me to jump back from the rather pretty pink flower I was observing before he’d said that, it looks like of like a cross between a spider chrysanthemum and celosia cristata, the bright pink color is almost alluring. He doesn’t say anything else until we walk for almost twenty minutes, getting to the back of the living area of the city, a large house sits, looking barren on the outside. He opens the door, pushing it open to reveal an empty looking house, the living room is on the left of the hallway, open to look in to reveal brown floors, a gel like couch, a large flat holoscreen, a coffee table and a few lights, and next is the kitchen, plain and almost empty, with your typical furnishing and appliances, and a small table with two rickety old chairs.

 

Evfra leads me down the second hall, pointing out the bathroom, his own room, which is across from mine, and when the door to my room opens, the walls are a pale blue, the queen sized bed is against the back wall, a dresser is on the right wall, and a desk with holocomputer is on the wall with the door, a closet included. I’m reminded of the room at my home back on Earth, in the crappy one bedroom that I had rented when my mother got sick, unable to handle the process of watching her practically disintegrate before my eyes from the disease that had her locked in it’s grip. “I do hope you like it. Your brother sent the Moshae a picture of your old room, and we tried to have it close.” He states, causing me to look at him to a sad smile.

 

“It’s… prefect. You didn’t have to go through the trouble, though. I know you’re not any more thrilled with this, than I am.” He hums as he looks away, and I walk over to the bed, dropping onto the gel like material covered with a soft blanket, the pillow at the top bounces under the shift in weight. “It’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just… a simple blanket and pillow on the floor would’ve worked. At least until I got my backpay funds from the initiative.” I let out a sigh, pressing my lips together in a firm line. “I mean, thank you, Evfra.” I huff. “I need to learn not to let my mouth run away with my thoughts.”

 

“Yes.” Evfra answers simply. “I will make something for us to eat.” He turns to walk away, letting my door slide shut with a quiet click, and I fall backwards to let out a ragged huff of air, tension releasing as I do so. After a few minutes to decompress from my day, being hugged and talking and putting a smile on my face finally wearing on me, I get up to unpack my bag, humming under my breath a song or two as I fold and place my clothes away, finding a place for my miscellaneous items, hanging a few posters up that Vetra managed to find for me as a welcome gift when I first got on the Tempest. There one or two of the Milky Way galaxy, one of my favorite Earth band, one of a famous Asari ice skater, and one of my favorite Salarian Electrical Engineer. Putting a copy of the frame from my office on the bedside table next to the pilfered alarm clock from Cassie’s quarters on the Tempest, the frame flicks and changes pictures as I fold my duffel bag up, putting the bag under my bed to forget about, while I sit out the edge of the bed, feeling a bit more comfortable in the room that is supposed to be mine as I grab the holoframe.

 

“ _I'm coming home_

_I'm coming home_

_Tell the world I'm coming home_

_Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday_

_I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes_

_I'm coming home, I'm coming home_

_Tell the world that I'm coming_ ” I sing softly as I left out a huff, staring at the picture. It was the Citadel back home, before mom died, she wanted a picture of her kids smiling together, so I took one with Cassie and then one with Lysander, then there was one of Cassie and Lysander together, all of them were in front of the picture window in the 300 block of the Zakara Ward. It was lonely after mom died, these pictures the only reminder than my siblings and I were ever civil to each other without persuasion or reason, at least for Cassie and I.

 

“Ahem.” I jump, my head snapping up as the frame clatters to the floor, wincing as I stumble after it. “I knocked.” Evfra states, causing me to nod as my face burns.

 

“Yeah, okay, of course you did.” I clear my throat.

 

“The food is ready. It isn’t much, but it’s something I got from your friend, Liam. I believe you call it Chicken Parmesan.” I blink, nodding as I grab the frame from the floor, and climb to my feet to walk out the room after Evfra, setting the frame on the bedside table as I pass by it. Walking into the kitchen, the smell that greets me is just on the edge of heavenly and mouthwatering, the sight of chicken smothered in red sauce atop of noodles causing my stomach to growl, as I realize that this is the first solid food meal that Lexi has authorized since I’ve awoken. The first bite is an explosion of flavors dancing across my taste buds, sweet and savory, angelic as it is sinful, and I feel so grateful that I’ve been awoke _after_ the resource struggle and the live food has started to be grown. “You enjoy it?”

 

“Not _only_ have you made my favorite dish of all time. You’ve made it sinfully good, and it’s the first solid meal I’ve had in Andromeda.” I state, causing him to nod, eating a buggy looking plant-like thing off his plate, while I eat my chicken Parmesan. “I-I didn’t even ask, oh god. C-Can you eat human food?” I ask. “I don’t want to like, put you out if you can’t. I can make my own food, and pay for my own ingredients.”

 

“I _can_.” He answer gruffly. “I do not mind. I do not enjoy the flavors you have in some dishes. I have never had this dish you are eating, so I made enough for one, instead of wasting resources that have been given to me for your stay.” I look down, cutting a small piece of chicken off, and scoop it onto his plate with some noodles and sauce.

 

“Thanks.” I murmur once again as he looks between the food I’ve offered and myself, while I go back to eating. He scoops it up, taking the whole thing in one bite, before he has a look akin to delight echo in his eyes, before he clears his throat.

 

“It is good.” He states simply, the two of us falling into compatible silence for the rest of the meal.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check my Tumblr for updates!  
> https://gamergirl2170-arts-updates.tumblr.com/


	4. According To You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Forgot this chapter! Ooops!

Eventually, I’ve come to learn that Evfra leaves for work before the sun even rises, silent as the night and moving like a shadow, obviously leaving no sign of his movements through the house, save for the food left in the fridge for my breakfast, and his rofjin is gone from the back of the chair beside the door. Neither of us say much when we get in at night, sometimes so worn out from his ops and my paperwork that we even forego dinner, and go straight to bed, but on the rare occasion where he’s actually off work before I am, he has dinner ready at the house for when I cross the threshold. The pattern is settled before I think either of us realize, before long, a civil air has settled between us as the first month passes without incident.

 

Sitting at the desk in the Ambassador’s office, the light on the holoscreen on my desk pings, drawing my attention enough that I glance at the empty office, before I answer the vidcall, Cassie’s bright pink streak fills the call as she fiddles with the holoscreen on her side for a second, before she sits back, revealing her whole face. “Hey baby sis! How’s it going?” She asks, causing me to raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest.

 

“You have placed me in a position where I’m at a desk all hours of the day, filling out _paperwork_. How’s it going? I’m itching for a fire so I can put it out.” I answer, causing her to hum, before grinning at me.

 

“Don’t you have enough fires? I expect Evfra’s ready to throw you out by now.” Her words feel like a sharp sting of an insult, but she’s unaware as she grins, twisting her pink streak around a finger as she leans back in her chair. I note the bandage she’s supporting on her shoulder, under her Blasto tank top, causing me to grimace as she rolls her shoulder. “Yeah, damn Kett. We’ve gotten close to cleaning out the last pockets on Meridian, but there are more all across the Andromeda system.”

 

“Yeah? Be more careful.” I answer, causing her to scoff.

 

“Okay _mum_ , you’re worse than Lys.” She brushes off my comment as I narrow my eyes at her.

 

“How much do you think mom’s gonna approve _if_ she wakes up, and you’re covered in bruises and cuts, or worse, dead?” I retort sharply, causing her to glare at me.

 

“ _When_ . _When_ mom wakes up! Why do you always have to be a negative nelly?” She demands. “This is why people can’t stand you!” That’s like a slap across the face, causing me to lean forward, ending the call as I look out the window in front of me, my eyes blurring with tears as let out a sigh, dropping my face in my hand, taking deep and slow breaths, trying to calm myself. I’m not sure how long I sit there, it feels like eternity as the biting burn of the tears fades, and I manage to swallow the lump in my throat, choking back the feelings of pain, leaving a lingering aftertaste of anger behind.

 

“You did not come to the house.” I jump, my head snapping up to look at the door, where Evfra is standing, arms crossed over his chest as he leans on the door stop. “Are things alright?” He asks, causing me to slap a composed look on my face as I nod.

 

“Yeah, things are-” I wince at the crack in my voice. “Things are fine. Just finishing up paperwork.” I wave to the paperwork next to my seat. “Deadline is tomorrow, all of these need approval by Paaran Shie and you, mainly citizenships requests on Angarn planets.” I lean back in my seat, pushing away from the desk to stand. “Let’s go.” I state as I walk over to the door, flipping off lights over my desk, causing him to nod without question, the two of us start through the city as a civil and comfortable silence hangs overhead, the night is almost completely black, save for the stars twinkling above, causing me to frown as my brows furrow. “How late is it?”

 

“Late.” Evfra answers, signalling that’s all I will get.

 

“You didn’t have to come get me.” I point out.

 

“Your kind isn’t welcome by all of the Angara, when you did not return to the house, and you were not in your room asleep-”

 

“You thought something happened.” I finish his thoughts, causing him to grunt in acknowledgement of my words, telling me I was correct. “I’m not exactly the most _intimidating_ character, you know. I’m short for a human, 5 foot 3 inches, full grown height. No combat prowess, not even my glare is scary.”

 

“There are those who will not think like that. They believe you are no different than the Kett.” He states. “They believe attrition is the means to defeating your species.”

 

“Right.” I fall silent, the end to the conversation is evident, until we approach the house, and Evfra unlocks and opens the door, the inside is warmer than the outside, an unknown cold lingering in my bones as I step inside, rubbing my bare arms of my vest.

 

“Start wearing warmer clothes, we are entering the ice season.” Evfra states, leaving me standing in the living room without another word as he enters the kitchen, and I hesitate before following as he clicks on the pot on the stove, stirring the food inside to reheat it. “You will start hand-to-hand training, three days of the week.” His voice leaves no room for argument as I settle into my usual creaky chair.

 

“I have _some_ training in hand-to-hand, but I wouldn’t mind a refresher, or learning more.” I answer, causing him to nod as he serves two plates, before turning to place them on the table.

 

“I will speak to your sister about a Nexus security officer coming to teach you.” He retorts as he sits across from me, I stare down at the veggie stir fry, an unsettling feeling in my stomach.

 

“I doubt she’ll go through with that.” I murmur as I spear a brocoli, popping it into my mouth as Evfra sets his fork on his plate, watching me for a moment. When I don’t specify on that, he clears his throat, causing me to look up at him. “She doesn’t like me.” I point out, causing him to frown. “She can’t stand me.” I look down at the stir fry as I spear a piece of meat, staring at it. “Nobody can.” I mutter under my breath, clearly meant to be something kept to myself.

 

“You are wrong.” I jump at his words, hairs on the back of my neck prickling as I look up at him. “I have known you for a short time, and I belief that we have come to a commendable relationship of housemates.” His blue eyes that are void of most emotion, relay a determination that I’ve yet to see, causing me to nod as I look down, biting the meat off my fork.

 

“Thanks.” I murmur, my heterochromatic eyes sweeping over his face through my eyelashes, his eyes narrow in curiosity as I drop my gaze to my plate, eating silently as he seems to chew on his thought, swishing it back and forth between his gums, as if he’s cleaning it, before he spits it out.

 

“I have yet to see eyes like yours.” He clears his throat. “Are they not common, in the Milky Way?” I choke on my noodles, struggling to hold back my surprise as I cough into my fist, swallowing the mush in my mouth, and take a deep breath.

 

“It’s called Heterochromia, there are three different types- sectoral heterochromia which is only a portion of the iris of one eye has a different color than the rest of the iris of that eye. Partial heterochromia can occur in one eye or both eyes. Then there is central heterochromia, the iris has a different color near the border of the pupil with spikes of the central color radiating from the pupil toward the middle of the iris. Or the last one, the one I have, is complete Heterochromia, which is where the iris of one eye is a completely different color than the iris of the other eye.” I explain carefully. “It once was not uncommon, now it’s just rare to have complete Heterochromia.”

 

“How does it happen?” He asks, causing me to grimace.

 

“I sound like an instruction pamphlet.” I murmur, before I take another bite of me food, before I swallow. “An infant can be born with benign heterochromia, or it can become apparent in early childhood as the iris attains its full amount of a chemical called melanin. These types are called congenital heterochromia, it’s genetic. I could have kids that have partial or complete, or central, or they could have completely normal eyes.” I finish another few bites of food to let him think on my words. “Benign heterochromia also can occur as the result of a genetic mutation during embryonic development, basically if Cassie were to have kids, they could be completely normal, or while she’s pregnant, they could develop Heterochromia.”

 

“I… see.” Evfra hums.

 

“In some cases, heterochromia is a symptom of another condition that's present at birth or develops shortly thereafter. One example of a condition that causes heterochromia is Horner's syndrome. This is the combination of a constricted pupil, partial ptosis and loss of the ability to sweat on half of the face, all caused by an interruption of certain nerve impulses to the eye. Heterochromia that develops later in life is called acquired heterochromia. Causes of acquired heterochromia include eye injuries, uveitis and certain medications.” I finish my explanation as I clean my plate off, standing to take it over to the sink.

 

“Could _you_ change your eye color?” He asks, causing me to freeze, midscrub of the plate. Memories swim in the forefront of my mind of my mother and father fighting about cosmetic surgeries, of the mockery that taunted me through my schooling, about the instructors of my engineering courses using me to be made an example of, all because of my eyes. “Josie?” I jump at the hand on my shoulder, looking up to see Evfra standing there, unexpressed worry in his eyes.

 

“Sorry, um… your question threw me off.” I state, causing him to frown, before I finish washing and rinsing the plate and utensils, tossing them into the dish dryer, before walking out of the kitchen, to enter my room. Grabbing my clothes into my arms, I grab my toiletries as I leave my room, walking across the hall to bathroom, I open the door as the lights come on and set my belongings down to grab one of the fluffy towels, before I strip to climb into the shower, the waterfall of water washing the current stress on my body away. Hopping out of the shower, I towel off, cleaning up my mess to toss the dirty clothes into the hamper that I can do on my next day off before I pull on my underwear and pajama pants while thinking back.

 

The Moshae had offered a housekeeper for Evfra and I, about my second week on Aya, saying that some women were only _too_ happy to be of service, but I had a feeling that Evfra wouldn’t appreciate some unknown Angara in his house, mucking about, not only that but we’d had already fallen into a comfortable schedule where the household chores were divided between us, an unspoken agreement that we had come upon, the first week I had come here. “Are you almost done?” Evfra asks from the otherside of the door, snapping me from my reverie with the shake of my head.

 

“Uh- Um…” I stammer in surprise.

 

“If you are, I’m coming in.” He starts to open the door as I let out a squeal, dashing to the door to slam it shut with all my weight.

 

“Wait for an answer!” I snap at him through the door.

 

“Hurry and finish, I wish to shower.” He simply answers, I wait for his heavy footsteps to huffle away, before I let out a soft sigh, pressing a hand to my bare chest in an attempt to calm my rapidly beating heart, after another moment, I press off the door to pull on my pajama shirt, not risking him attempting another waltzing in at his own leisure, before I pack away my toiletries after brushing my teeth, and running a brush through my hair to attempt to manage the tangles and snarls. Dropping down from my tiptoes from looking in the mirror, I toss the brush into the tote, which I grab before I open the door to find Evfra standing there with his hand raised, as if he was going to knock.

 

“Human.” I point to myself, then to him. “Angara.” He crosses his arms over his chest as I huff, dropping my hand. “I prefer privacy when I shower, do to being a female, and you a male. I also take longer because I have more than _one_ article of clothing to put on, and I have to brush my hair.” He looks as if he’s raising a metaphorical eyebrow, as if to say ‘so?’ “ _So_ , I was **shirtless** when you tried to barge in. God, I wish there was a such thing as locks here.” I mutter the last part as I walk past him, into my room, slamming the door behind me with an irritated huff. Tossing my tote in my closet, I walk over to my bed as I sit on the edge, staring at nothing, before throwing myself back into the sheets with a yawn, curling up against the pillow, ready for sleep. The memories of the day are far from my mind. The next morning is an early one, the alarm blasting in my ear causing me to groan as I smack it off, rolling out of bed as I cross to the closet, pulling out my initiative blues that I replace my pajamas with, before I grab my hair brush from my tote, crossing over to the bathroom across the hall. One look in the mirror has me cursing up a storm because I forgot to braid my hair, and now my head looks like a bush. Ten minutes of brushing it out, I leave it down because it’s going be unruly today, I finish up in the bathroom before I enter the kitchen, surprised that Evfra’s not been up- judging by the lack of breakfast in the fridge. Pulling supplies out, I toss together a quick breakfast of toast, omelets, and sliced fruits, placing a plate in the fridge for Evfra as I finish off my own, washing the dishes before I walk out the front door, heading towards my office. Today is going to be _long_.

 

Finishing the _actual_ requested paperwork before the deadline wasn’t that difficult, I had finished before Onsi, Sora, and Nohv had even gotten there, but today was my first day _off planet_ since my arrival. My first meeting on the Nexus to dispute the the colonization of Aya, Tann wanted to fight that the Angara had room to spare, but I _know_ that they don’t. So I’ve taken the time pump myself up. “Morning Boss!” Sora greets as the blue-green Angara enters the office, followed rather **_closely_ ** by Nohv, the deep blue Angara smiles in greeting.

 

“Boss.” He nods as I smirk at the two of them, acting like they’re not shooting each other looks as they sit at their desks. Afterwhile, Onsi enters the office as well, shooting one look at her co workers, before shaking her head with a smirk.

 

“Morning ya’ll.” I greet finally, causing the three of them to turn to me, all of them smiling as I press off the desk with my arms crossed over my chest. “Anything new?”

 

“Nope.”Nohv answers as I bite my lip to keep from laughing, shaking my head as I look to Sora, who shrugs her shoulders.

 

“Nothing!” She answers, causing me to let out a sigh, eyeing Onsi who looks about as annoyed as I do.

 

“ _Okay_ , but if you have anything you guys wanna talk about, you know I’m here, right?” I ask, causing the two conspirators to grin.

 

“Sure thing boss.” Nohv says, turning back to his work.

 

“Yeah boss.” Sora answers, turning back to her work as well, Onsi gives me a look that translates to my exact thoughts, ‘You don’t buy this act, do you?’ to which I shake my head no, causing her to smirk, turning to her work as well. After about two hour of working of a petition for new laws on Kadara for the Nexus to review, I get pinged on my Omni-tool by the docking manager, the mauve Angara relays that my shuttle is here, causing me to answer with an affirmative, before I switch off my holoscreen, and stand.

 

“Going somewhere boss?” Onsi asks, causing me to smirk.

 

“Nexus. Evfra comes looking, tell him I ran away.” I joke, causing Onsi to laugh, before she stands, walking over to hug me.

 

“Stay strong and clear, tavataan.” She says as I nod.

 

“May the stars guide you.” I answer in response, the answer something I picked up from my favorite old Earth game, back in the Milky Way, as a way of parting. Onsi goes back to her seat as Sora gives me a hug and a goodbye, then Nohv. Before I grab my bag from the house, making my way to the docking bay, climbing the shuttle to the Nexus.

  


~3rd/Evfra POV~

 

Walking through the city, Evfra enters the Ambassador’s office, seeing the three angara he’d personally picked to be the Ambassador’s silent bodyguards and assistants, but _not_ the Ambassador herself. She wasn’t in bed this morning when he checked on her, as he often does, and there was food prepared in the fridge for himself, but there was no sign of her. “Where is she?” They all three look up from their holoscreens, looking behind them at the desk, before Onsi answers.

 

“She said to tell you she ran away.” She answers, causing his blood to boil, his fist clenched in his annoyance, before he turns to walk away before the Angarans can say anything more. Storming through the city back towards the Resistance Headquarters, the door opens quickly, as if hastened due to his irritation and annoyance, the other Angarans barely sparing the Leader a look, as if afraid to risk his wraith.

 

“That insolent girl!” He growls as he enters his office, seeing the Moshae waiting for him. “I _told_ her there are Angara out there who do not trust the Milky Way people yet. She insists on running off!” Evfra growls as he slams his fist down on the desk before him, the Moshae smiles at him, giggling as she walks over to the desk.

 

“You are awfully worried for the human.” She points out.

 

“No.” Evfra barks, causing her to laugh again.

 

“If you perhaps _asked_ more questions to her working companions, you would know that she is on the _Nexus_ for the next three days, for meetings with the Director, the Angaran Ambassador, and the Pathfinders. About the _fate_ of _our_ planets.” He looks at the Moshae with interest. “Their Acting Director seems to think that Aya has room for a colony, the reason _I_ am not there, was I must discuss the safe of our Ambassador, herself.” The Moshae specifies, causing him to nod.

 

“Speak, Moshae.” He answers, causing her to smile, looking at her former pupil.

 

“You must know that she’s been getting threats, she hasn’t brought them to your attention, but she has mentioned them in passing, during our daily walks together.” Her words strike the Resistance Leader to the core, _this_ is what he was afraid of. “She doesn’t believe they are serious, nor that she’s in any danger while in port, nor on the Nexus.”

 

“Her assistants are trained for her protection.” Evfra answers.

 

“But what of her walks home? She’s alone. On route to the Nexus? She pilots her own shuttle, insists that she’s fine on her own.” The Moshae says. “Her days off? Your home is secluded from the rest, and you aren’t home until late- you’ve demonstrated yourself, just today, that she listens to noone, and there are ample opportunities for her kindness to be used against her.” Her questions cut him to the quick, he’s sure that he’d thought of all of this at one point, but brushed it off as he believed that all Milky Way people are skilled in combat, but Josie- _Jocelyn_ he sharply forces himself to think of her without her familiarity- is a noncom. Something he often forgets. “She may have the look like a combatant, but I know for a fact that the first time she picked up a gun was merely a few years before they left the Milky Way.” Evfra’s head snaps up to look at the Moshae at that.

 

“ _What_?” He demands in a sharp tone.

 

“That’s not my place to tell you what happened. That’s on Josie, but you should know that she’s not _raw_ , she has experience.” The Moshae states.

 

“I know this. She’s supposed to start hand to hand training once she gets back.” Evfra grounds out.

 

“I wonder if she isn’t more skilled that she lets on. After all, her brother, sister, and father are all military.” The Moshae says aloud, like bait on a hook as she walks out, leaving Evfra grinding his teeth as he thinks on her parting words.


	5. The First Cut is the Deepest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you all think! I've taken to renaming all the Chapters with titles of songs! So, if you're curious about what I'm listening to around the time I've written these chapters, you guys can know!
> 
> -This was originally chapter 4, because I forgot a chapter, so please go back a read that chapter!-

 

       ~3rd/Josie POV~

 

Sights that were familiar and foreign are a thing that Josie had been used to after moving so much for her father’s work and Ellen’s illness, but she hadn’t even gotten to _see_ the Operations area of the Nexus, the tram immediately taking her through to the Hydroponics, where Cassie had taken her straight to the Tempest on the Docking Bay, like they were on a time limit or breaking rules as they had as kids.

 

The bag slung over her shoulder as she looked around, felt like nothing from the physical training she’d had, even with her wrist twisted to keep ahold of it. Her eye are full of sights that are familiar, people talking, Turians and Humans talking like there was never a first contact war, there and Angara spot the area as well, Asari and Angara conversating as though they aren’t on the brink of a war themselves. The sight is enamoring and awe inspiring, unfamiliar is the territory she’s in, it’s much like the Citadel but also unlike it in so many ways. The ceiling is high, the talking is civil, the rooms are open for all to see, it’s warm and bright, where are the Citadel is cold and dark.

 

“Hey, Maraschino!” She whirls around at the familiar voice, eyes wide as they land on her platinum haired red eyed best friend from the Milky Way.

 

“Mikael!” She shouts, dropping her bag with a dull thump as she dashes across the area to throw herself in her best friend’s arms, he laughs as he scoops her up in their embrace, spinning around. “What’re you doing here?!” She asks in disbelief as he drops her, the two of them walk over to her bag as he shrugs.

 

“They needed an Engineer on the Hyperion, so I was brought out of Cryo.” He answers as she slings her bag over her shoulder.

 

“I _meant_ in Andromeda! I didn’t even know you were coming- you said is was a bunch of bullshit.” He laughs at her cursing as she puff her cheeks, glowering at the nearly 6 foot man. “Don’t mock me, boy.” She huffs as he just doubles over in his laughter now, clenching his stomach as she sniffs, walking off.

 

“W-Wait!” Mikael laughs, getting to his full height to jog after her, while she curses her stubby feet. “What are _you_ doing here? I thought you’d be off on the Tempest to cook for your sister and brother.”

 

“Cassie put me in a Bureaucratic role. I’m the new Human Ambassador on Aya.” She answers.

 

“That’s that planet the new aliens are based out of?” Mikael asks, his eyes twinkling in wonder- ever the explorer.

 

“One of them. The others are Voeld and Havarl. They have quite a history actually, and are _crazy_ free with their emotions.” She explains as they start towards the pathfinder Headquarters. “Hey, you’ve gotta come back to Aya with me after the meets. Just for a day or so.”

 

“I dunno if I can get leave.” Mikael answers, causing her to tilt her head at him, giving him her puppy-dog pleading eyes, causing him to groan as he smacks his hand over his eyes, and leans his head back. “Ugh!” He groans. “I-Oh _fine!_ ” He huffs as she jumps in excitement.

 

“Yes!” She grins. “You can stay in my room at Evfra’s, and we can hanging out at my work, I can introduce you to Sora, and Nohv- who I swear are an item but are keeping hush about it, and Onsi!”

 

“Whoa whoa! Slow down.” He laughs. “Who is _Evfra_?” He asks, causing her to grin as she enters the Pathfinder Headquarters, where the meeting is being held.

 

“He’s a friend.” She answers, causing him to open his mouth to retort as the doors slide shut between them, and she walks over to the table where Tann, Addison, Kesh, and Kandros are waiting with three of the four pathfinders, Cassie’s the only one missing. The mere _sight_ of Tann and Addison whispering like conspirators causes a head to crop up at the front of Josie’s mind- she’s heard too much about these two from Cassie and Lysander each- it’s rare that they agree of people they can’t stand as Lysander is a very social guy who hardly dislikes anyone.

 

       ~Josie POV~

 

“Pathfinder Ryder cannot join us this time,” Tann starts. “so we will continue on.” His squeaky voice already makes me want to gouge my eardrums out with my omni-blade. Hours of bickering and arguing leads to the conversation that I am truly here for. “The presence of Milky Way people on Aya has already been met with good graces, so to settle Aya would be-”

 

“Have you ever _been_ to Aya, Tann?” I ask, interrupting him without remorse.

 

“No, but they obviously have enough room if they can accept another human as an Ambassador.” He retorts, causing me to shake my head.

 

“You ever left this station, this _room_ ? We may be at peace for now, but it’s a barely held thread, that is already fraying under the tension of the blade it’s held against.” He blinks owlishly at me. “Aya can _not_ hold a colony- it’s already _groaning_ under the weight of it’s community.”

 

“We would not live _with_ the Angara- we’ve colonize the other side of the planet.” Tann answers.

 

“The side of the planet with constantly erupting volcanoes, and no resources? That’s brilliant.” I snort, clapping my hands together. “Look, the Angara _themselves_ have to take turns living on that planet- they **can’t** withstand anymore.”

 

“Do you even know about what you speak?” Addison demands, voicing her opinion. “You’ve been awake for a month, some of us have been awake for over two years now.”

 

“What do you think that has to do with anything? I mean, goddamn Addison, you side with an _Accountant_ that thinks he’s too good to be the Acting Director, who would rather be a dictator!” I bark at them. “Do you think I sit in a lush office, eating grapes off the vine, held by gorgeous men? **_NO!_ ** I work my ass off, filing citizenship requests, trying to make laws for _all_ of our people to live in peace.” Silence echoes in the room. “We’re on the brink of _war_ after our newfound peace, I have to deal with the Roekaar who **still** don’t trust us, and Outcasts that **still** hate us, and Krogan who are **still** pissed at us, threats that are pointed at _me_. Like I’m single handedly keeping the peace!”

 

“Would you shut your goddamn mouth?” Addison snaps. “You sit cozy, _protected_ , with a position that your sister got you, while the rest of us struggle to make do until Meridan can be finished and settled. So don’t talk to _us_ about struggles.” She growls.

 

“You can’t do anything to me Addison, so I can say this. You’re a motherfuck bitch who sides with a wannabe dictator.” She gapes at me. “ _So_ , clean up your own motherfucking messes if you think you can handle it. But when all hell breaks loose, don’t blame me, and don’t come to me for help. We are **_not_ ** settling Aya.” I snarl as I run my hand through my hair, taking a deep breath as I turn on my heels, stalking out.

 

“ _Finally!_ ” I jump as I whirl around, seeing Kesh and Kandros exiting behind me, the two of them are laughing as Kesh grins at me. “It’s about _time_ someone gave those two a whatfor!” Kesh cackles as I rub my neck, biting my bottom lip.

 

“I hope I didn’t just screw things up.” I admit aloud.

 

“Are you _kidding_?” Pathfinder Hayjer laughs, throw his arms out.

 

“You _actually_ just ended what would’ve been a three day meet, in a matter of hours.” Pathfinder Avitus states, giving me a turian equivalent to a smile.

 

“You did really well.” Pathfinder Vederia compliments as Kesh slaps me on the back, the hit jolts me a half of a step, the stinging fades rather quickly as Kandros smiles at me.

 

“Drinks at the Vortex are on me.” Kandros says, causing the three pathfinders and Kesh to follow him, but Vederia stops, as if noticing that I’m not following, and turns to me.

 

“Aren’t you coming?” She asks, drawing the other’s attention.

 

“Yeah, I wanna hear _all_ about Ryder from her sister! You’ve gotta be proud of her.” Kandros says. “I know she’s gotta be proud of you.” His words echo hollowly in my chest, and I worry my lip between my teeth, and shake my head.

 

“I’m gonna look around, actually. First time I can actually explore the Nexus.” They all nod, the excuse is good enough for them as they start towards the Vortex, though Vederia hesitates for a minute, until I give her nod and a forced smile, before she turns to hurry after them. I look about for a moment, then start towards the ramp.

 

“E-Excuse me!” I turn at the voice calling out, seeing a blue Asari running over. “Hi, Keri T'Vessa, Heleus News Service Reporter. You’re Pathfinder Cassandra Ryder’s sister?” She asks, a cambot hovering over shoulder as she asks, causing my face to fall.

 

“Yeah. Cassie’s my older sister.” I answer hesitantly.

 

“Wow! That’s awesome. Can we get an interview? People would _love_ to hear about Cassandra Ryder as a kid.” She says, causing me to frown as I shake my head.

 

“She doesn’t like being call Cassandra. Just Cassie.” I answer. “Anyway, no. I’m too busy- I have to go.” She follows after me a few steps.

 

“W-Wait, where you going?” She asks.

 

“I’ve gotta find someone, then I’m getting the fastest shuttle to Aya.” I answer honestly.

 

“Why? Do you live there? Are we settling Aya now?” Keri pushes as she follows me.

 

“What? No, I never said that! I’m the Human Ambassador for Aya.” I answer, trying to move away.

 

“Then why are you going to Aya? You’ve been awake for a month and nobody’s even heard from you, or seen you. Do you have a friend on Aya you’re staying with? A lover perhaps?” Keri presses.

 

“What? No! Leave me alone!” I shout, shoving her cambot away from my face as his scoots very close in. “Look, I am stressed from the meet with Tann and Addison, can’t you just leave me alone?!” I demand, stomping off as I hear her talk to the camera.

 

“You saw here first, folks. Secrets the Bureaucrats are hiding from us! Keri T’Vessa signing off!” Keri signs off as I let out a huff, shaking my head with a sigh, stomping down the ramp to open my omni-tool. I message Mikael to meet me at the docking bay, shrugging my bag over my shoulder as I take the tram down to Hydroponics, stepping off to go towards the docking bay, the familiar shock of white locks greets me as Mikael turns to me with my interview with Keri playing on his Omni-tool.

 

“She’s fast.” I state as Mikael laughs at my comment about Tann and Addison on the interview.

 

“Poor Maraschino! You got bullrushed.” Mikael laughs, throwing his arm around my shoulders. “That Keri, man, she’s a serious reporter when it comes to your sister, but everyone else is just salacious gossip.” He shakes his head, grabbing his bag as we walk together towards the transport station. “Think they’ll be surprised that you ended a meeting after a few hours, instead of a few days? I mean, that’s a record.” He states.

 

“Tann and Addison are just assholes. The galaxy would be a better place without them in charge. Seriously, I thought Cassie was in charge of changing the list of leaders?” I shake my head.

 

“She is. It’s just a long process. Who would you put in charge?” He asks as we climb on a shuttle.

 

“Kesh and Kandros seem like the best bet, they _honestly_ want to help people. The Moshae as the Ambassador, Avitus Rix does well as a pathfinder, but pretty soon we won’t need those anymore- Maybe he could be part of the New Council.” I answer as I toss my bag on a seat, and climb into the pilot seat. “I mean, this is just spitballing, but Mikael, you’d be good at politics too.” Mikael laughs as he straps into the co-pilot’s seat.

 

“Hey, so do you know who is on Kadara _right now_ ?” He asks, causing me to glance at him. “Reyes.” My hands grip the wheel of the shuttle, knuckles practically white as my blood boils, gritting my teeth against the urge to turn towards the volatile planet. “He _runs_ Kadara now, from the shadows.”

 

“How the _fuck_ do the Angara let that fly?” I demand in a sharp voice.

 

“He runs it from the shadows, through an Angara woman named Keema Dohrgun. The Resistance wouldn’t mind anyway- Reyes is a contact of theirs. A smuggler for them- Codename Shena.” I struggle so I don’t snort at that, the irony isn’t lost at me as we touch down on Aya.

 

“Stay here, I need to talk with Evfra.” I tell him as we exit the shuttle, he nods as I leave my bag beside him, stalking through the city to the Resistance Headquarters. The Angaran soldiers posted outside let me in almost immediately at the look on my face, the short trot to Evfra office has my rage simmering as the door shoots open, reveal the blue Angara standing at his desk, his back to me as I slam my fist on his desk.

 

“Jocelyn. Welcome back.” He greets as he turns to me, saying surprise colors his face is an understatement, thought there isn’t anything else that it can be compared to. “Something wrong?” He asks, schooling his face back into his mask as I feel my face turn red in my anger, tears burn from outrage.

 

“ _Shena!?_ ” He blinks in surprise as I growl the name out. “You have him as a fucking _contact_ ?! Reyes Motherfucking Vidal?” I snarl, turning to kick the chair before the desk over. “You **trust** him? That… that **_monster_ **?!” I turn to Evfra as he crosses his arms over his chest.

 

“Whom I trust is up to me, is it not?” He demands, causing me to glare at him, tears finally escaping their prisons, much to my annoyance.

 

“Fuck you, Evfra.” I snap, turning on my heels to barge out, punching the wall beside the door on the way out, the biotics under my skin flashing enough to dent the metal as I take a deep breath, look at Evfra in disappointment, before leaving finally.


	6. King of Anything

 

~3rd/Evfra POV~

 

Standing in the office, staring at the dent beside his office door, the memory is still fresh in his mind. The anger practically radiated off her, pooling out of her eyes as tears, the purple that had warped around her hand as she punched the wall, leaving that dent, and the look of disappointment burning in her eyes as she looked back at him. She looked so sad, like she’d been betrayed, and since then, he’s stood there, staring at the bent metal trying to make sense of what had happened. _“Fuck you, Evfra.” She snapped, tears falling as she turned away._ ** _Tears_** _, she was_ ** _crying_** _for Stars sake. He’d known her for a month, there were never any tears. Even when she told him of the fate of her mother and father, even when she told him her relationship with her siblings, how she was_ ** _always_** _the outcast. She was practically orphaned like him. There were never_ ** _tears_** _._ _He didn’t know what to do with tears._ “Evfra, what happened?” He snaps out of his reveries to see the Moshae looking at the wall as she enters the room, looking over at him, her expression changing from surprise to worry. “Evfra?” She asks.

 

“I apologize Moshae, I must find Josie.” He says, moving past the woman, out the door as he hurries towards to docking bay, where he’s directed towards the living area by the docking bay manager, his feet are quick, worry eating at him as he dashes towards the house. He bursts in to find Josie and a white haired man sitting on the couch, the white haired man has an arm over Josie’s shoulder, while Josie’s face is in her hands, shoulders quaking. “Josie…” His rumbling voice causes the white haired human man to look up as Josie buries her face in his chest, clenching his shirt in her hand, and he shakes his head at Evfra, holding up a hand.

 

“Hey, Maraschino,” The man says, a soft voice in the living area. “why don’t you go take a shower, then we can watch your favorite movie on the holoscreen?” He offers, causing her to sniff, nodding as she wipes her eyes, standing as she leaves the living room without sparing Evfra a glance. “You Evfra?” He asks as the blue Angara rounds the chair.

 

“Yes.” He answers, causing the man to nod.

 

“I’m Mikael, Josie and I grew up together.” He offers his hand, causing Evfra to take it as they shake hands. “Look man, Josie’s not good at talking. She’s been reserved about her emotions for a  _ long _ time, took me years to break that taciturn shell she’s got up. But, today was a  _ lot _ , and it’s mostly my fault that she ended up like this. But you got a part to play in this too.”

 

“I beg your pardon?” Evfra demands, causing Mikael to hold up his hands in a peaceful gesture.

 

“I’m just saying. Josie  _ trusted _ you, but you responded coldly to something that she should’ve known about.” He shakes his head. “Reyes Vidal is a monster in her book, always will be.” He wipes his hands on his pants. “The dude fucked Josie’s head up real bad, made her belief he cared about her, all to steal money and led to the death of one of our friends- Her dad’s never been one for emotion, but he’s  _ never _ cared about Josie. And her mother? Always been closer with Cassie and Lysander, you and I both know how that can fuck with a kid that people have pushed around. Reyes  _ really _ fucked her up. God knows that he wouldn’t have touched or talked to her if I had been there.”

 

“What does this have to do with my response?” Evfra asks, causing the man, Mikael to smack himself in the forehead with his hand.

 

“Dude, pay attention. She trusted you, and you turned around to say that you trusted Reyes. Obviously more than you trust her, since you didn’t mention that he was smuggling for you, or relaying information, or whatever he does.” Mikael says. “To Josie, she feels like you  _ betrayed _ her, because you didn’t return her trust, and that’s like disrespecting her!” Evfra nods, still feeling slightly lost, but understanding more. “You realize that she wanted to go to Kadara herself, and slit his throat in his sleep?”

 

“She isn’t strong enough to do something like that.” Evfra answers almost instantly.

 

“Damn Josie, what’re doing?” Mikael groans, shooting a look at the direction of the bathroom, before looking back at the Angaran man. “Josie’s proficient in hand to hand combat, and after she picked up a gun, she never put if back down. She  _ sleeps _ with a gun under her pillow- you don’t believe me, you can go check.”

 

“She’s what?” Evfra frowns.

 

“She doesn’t like confrontation, but she can protect herself if need be.” Mikael explains. “That’s something you should talk to her about though.”

 

“So everyone keeps saying.” Evfra murmurs, before long the red haired young woman comes out, towel in her hair, dressed in her pajamas, she looks at Evfra, before she turns around to walk back, there’s the slam of a door echoing through the house, and Evfra looks a Mikael. “How do I fix it?”

 

“Man, I dunno. That’s never been a worry for me.” Mikael runs his fingers through his ragtop mess of his hair. “Let me talk to her, explain that you were trying to protect Angaran secrets, or whatever, and then, maybe things will go back to  _ some _ semblance of normal for you guys.” He stands.

 

“Wait.” Evfra looks up as Mikael looks at him. “How did you know about Shena?”

 

“Dude, I slept with him.” Mikael grins. “ Made it easy to break into his information. I’m a hacker.” He chuckles. “Anything for revenge for my best girl.” He disappears down the hall as Evfra blinks, standing to go back to work.

 

~Josie POV~

 

Later that night, after watching a movie or two with Mikael, cooking dinner- I even leave Evfra a plate still- before Mikael and I talk for a bit while lounging on my bed, Mikael lounged across the foot while I sit at the head, my back against the wall with my arms wrapped around my knee. “You know you’re my best gal,” Mikael starts, causing me to roll my eyes, exasperated. “What?” He asks.

 

“Nothing good  _ ever _ happens when you start a conversation with that sentence.” I point out, causing Mikael to puff his cheeks in indignation.

 

“I resent that!” He states.

 

“You convinced me to do  _ so _ many things with that conversation starter.” He raises an eyebrow, as if to say ‘prove it’, and I start to tick the items off on my fingers. “Skinny dipping in the Presidium Fountain, flashing the Council members, stowing away on a specter’s ship to go to Noveria, where we proceeded to freeze our asses off until they booked us for galactic space laws violations, and called my  _ parents _ . Do you  **know** how many times I nearly got arrested? I’m  _ lucky _ I was a juvenile.”

 

“The Skinny Dipping and Flashing the Council were good ones.” Mikael cackles, before he shakes his head. “That’s not the point. I’m saying that you’re my favorite gal, you know I’d do  _ anything _ for ya. But, I think that you were too quick to punish Evfra.” My brow furrows as I frown, and he holds out a hand as if to tell me to wait a minute. “Look, you’ve known him a little over a month, and Evfra has been around Kett since he was a kid, the Initiative came around two years ago, bringing a bunch of  _ new _ aliens- with guns- that he didn’t even know if he could trust. We were rebelling against our  _ own _ , and fighting wars with our own people, and he found very few he could trust amongst them.” He clears his throat. “Then  _ suddenly _ the war is over, his smugglers and resistance work is next to not needed, and he has  _ one _ of those strange aliens in his house- living with him. Getting along with him.” I gape at his words. “You can’t expect him to trust you with everything. You trusted him rather quickly, especially for you, but you keep  _ secrets  _ from him, still.” His eyes search mine for a full minute and a half, before I press my lips together in a firm line, nodding as I stand.

 

“You’ve got a point- I’ll… think it over.” I state as I leave the room, Mikael’s words floundering around in my head as I curl up on the couch, laying there in the dark, deep in thought. Rolling back and forth, the material sticks to my back as I sit up, letting out a sigh as I grab my jacket from the back of the chair by the door, padding barefoot out the door with a singular glance spared at time on my omni-tool. After 0200, and Evfra still isn’t back- I probably tosses and turned for a good three hours, before I finally decided to get up to go walking through Aya. It doesn’t take long to get the Resistance Headquarters, wind around the planet is crisp and cool, but not biting enough yet that I have to wear my shoes, and the door to the Headquarters opens to reveal an empty room. The path to Evfra’s room is quick as I pause outside for a moment before I enter the office, seeing Evfra staring intensely at the holoscreen before him as he fills out a report about one of the latest missions, to send it to the Nexus for updates in their files. “Evfra-” He looks up in surprise at my voice, before he presses back from the desk to stand.

 

“Josie!” I wince at his booming voice, he seems to do the same, because he then says, “My apologies, I did not mean to speak so loudly.” He purrs, causing me to give a weak smile- practically a grimace. “Was there something I can help you with?”

 

“No, I uh… I wanted to talk to you.” I answer, causing him to nod as he gestures to one of the seats before him, which I cross to, before I settle into it as he sits back down. “I owe you an apology.”

 

“You do?” He asks.

 

“I… took my anger out on you, undeservedly so. We could’ve talked like grown adults- I could’ve waited until you go home to confront you about Shena. I just… wasn’t thinking.” I explain, causing him to frown firmly. “Reyes just makes me so- So… So-”

 

“Infuriated?” Evfra provides, causing me to bow my head in a nod.

 

“Exactly.”

 

“Your friend, Mikael and I, had a rousing discussion earlier today- I decided to let you come to me. I did not want to press you.” He explains.

 

“I… thanks.” I press my lips together, blush burns my cheek.

 

“You started crying.” He points out, causing my blush to spread down my neck, and up past my hairline, even my ears are hot. “Did it hurt that I did not trust you?”

 

“Yes, and no.” I answer, blushing as I glance up at him. “When I get too angry, I start to cry- It’s embarrassing.” My explanation causes him to fall silent, arms crossed over his chest as he watches me for a moment.

 

“That is acceptable.” He states, causing me to frown for a second, before I wave it off.

 

“I’m really sorry about my behavior today. I’ll work on keeping my emotions in check.” He holds up a hand at me.

 

“I did not say that. Angara are free with their emotion, I may be more reserved, but I, too, express myself when necessary.” He says, causing me to frown, before I nod in acceptance, standing as he watches me, I cover my mouth as I let out a soft yawn.

 

“You’ve worked enough tonight, come back home.” I murmur, causing him to nod as he powers off the holoscreen, gesturing towards the door as he follows.


	7. Brave

 

Mikael managed to get leave for three more days, days spent on Aya with Evfra and I, the mood in the house is  _ hyperactive _ to say the least. Dinner is vibrant foods of different ethnicities, laughter roaring through the house between three of us, jokes and laughter, bonding all the time, Evfra is home early every night as am I, until the day that Mikael leaves. Standing on the docking bay, my white haired best friend squeezes the life out of me as I do the same to him, neither of us wanting to let go.

 

“I’ll miss you.” I state.

 

“Me too.” Mikael reciprocates.

 

“It’s not gonna be the same without you.” I murmur.

 

“I know.” He responds.

 

“You can come back at any time. Any leave.” I offer, causing him to nod vigorously, holding me even closer as his chin rests on my head.

 

“And  _ you _ can come to the Nexus for vacation at any time.” Mikael promises.

 

“Yes.” I answer.

 

“And tell me if anything happens between Sora and Nohv.” He grins as we pull apart.

 

“I swear.” He nods, pinching my cheek.

 

“And tell me is anything  _ steamy _ happens between you and that Angara of yours.” He teases, causing me choke on his words, eyes wide as a blush scores my cheeks.

 

“Come on! You know I hate it when you joke about that stuff! It makes me blush!” I shout, smacking him playfully as he winces and tries to dodge my swats.

 

“Ow! Ow! Ow, evil wench!” He cries playfully.

 

“The transit for the Nexus is leaving now. Final call!” The docking manager calls as I stop my play assault on Mikael.

 

“Alright, Maraschino, my best gal. I gotta go now.” He says, causing me to frown as he hugs me, barely hugging him back because I know that if I put too much into it, he’ll miss  _ another _ transit.

 

“Bye.” I murmur as he pulls away, stooping down to press a swift kiss to my cheek, before he bounces back to walk away, waving over his shoulder as he climbs on the ship. I wave back, tears budding along my eyelashes, which I fight back against, waving until this ship is out of sight, and I turn back to the city, moving through the town with blurry eyes. The path to the Resistance Headquarters is one that I’ve traveled for almost a month and a half by now, I pass the office on the way to the house or on the way to  _ my _ office. The Angara in the HQ stare at I walk through, used to seeing Mikael on my tail as of late, but it’s stare-free as I enter Evfra’s office in the back of the HQ.

 

“Josie, what can I do for you?” Evfra asks from behind the desk, I bring my head up with the tears in my eyes, forcing them back as I look around to see some of the resistance members looking at me, and I realize that I interrupted a meeting.

 

“I-” My voice breaks as Evfra’s eyes widen, before he dismisses the others for a ten minute break, then he rounds the desk as I slowly take a single step forward, then another, then another, until I’m standing about three steps away from one of my greatest friends.

 

“What is the matter? Where is Mikael?” He asks, causing me to bite my lip, before he looks at his omni-tool, before he nods in understanding. “He has returned to the Nexus.” He waves me forward, causing me to cross the floor to wind my arms around his waist, and his arms wind around my shoulders, his bio-electricity buzzing against my skin is warm and soothing. “It is alright, I understand.”

 

“I’m lonely.” He huffs at my words.

 

“I am here.” He rumbles, causing me to sniffle as I smile up at him. “You are  _ not _ alone, you will never be alone here.” He promises, causing me to nod.

 

“Thanks, ‘Fra.” I state, causing his lips twitch up a bit in a smile.

 

“No, don’t you have work to do?” I wrinkle my nose at him, before backing towards the door.

 

“Don’t get home too late tonight, Mikael made some dinner for us to reheat.” I tell him, causing him to merely nod, before I leave the room, walking through the HQ as the resistance members go back to their meeting, all of them smiling at me, nodding politely as I pass. The path to my office is quick, Nohv and Sora are the only ones there, not that they’ve noticed me in their liplocked battle for dominance. Crossing my arms over my chest, I lean against the door stop, watching the two of them kiss for a good minute, before I finally clearing my throat as I realize they’re not going to stop anytime soon.

 

“Boss!” Sora cries as they jump apart, Nohv’s deep blue cheeks are darkening to an almost purple color from embarrassment, while Sora’s mauve’s entire face is almost pantone mauve color now.

 

“Don’t mind me, I just was going to suggest you two go to lunch, but perhaps you prefer tongue?” I joke as the two of the gape like fish, mouths opening and closing rapidly, before I let out a light laugh, pressing off the door to step further into the room, gesturing towards the door as the two of them give shaky smiles, before dashing out, leaving me alone. “Those two are so cute.” I murmur to myself as I open the blinds to the windows on either side of the office door, crossing to my desk to turn on the holoscreen, sitting down for work. Time passes slowly, Nohv and Sora are back almost exactly an hour later, Onsi has taken the day off to spend some time with her pregnant sister, who is almost about to pop any day now, and by the time it’s quitting time, Sora and Nohv are off to dinner together, while I shut everything down, closing the blinds.

 

Three weeks later, after work one night, I get back to the house, Evfra is already in the kitchen, cooking one of the recipes that Mikael had left for us, Evfra barely glances over his shoulder as I shrug off my coat to drape it over my chair, dropping into the creaking material as I let out a soft yawn. “Long day?” I ask as he places the plate before me, it’s loaded with arroz con pollo, fried ripe plantains, and Aji Criollo, before he sits across from me as well.

 

“Tann messaged me. He said that you wanted to bring up an idea to me.” He says, causing me to sigh, stabbing a plantain viciously, thinking back to the vidcall that I’d had previously with the Nexus Acting Director, the  _ safer _ choice we’d come up with after my angry and annoyed outburst during our first meeting. “You do not?” Evfra asks, causing me to let out an annoyed sigh.

 

“It was just an idea. Kandros and I were just talking, it wasn’t even part of the meeting, and Tann and Addison butted in.” I explain, causing Evfra to nod as I scrape my teeth against my fork, yanking the hot plantain off the end of it. “I mean, stars above, I hate them!” I snarl as I finish the plantain, before stirring together my Arroz con Pollo with my Aji Criollo, scooping some up before I eat a bite. “I want to rip Tann’s eyes out of his skull every time I even hear his name. His voice is like a needle piercing my brain. Maybe I can feed them to Addison under the guise of them being some kind of a delicacy.” I smirk at my own thoughts, before looking up to see a choking Evfra. “A-Are you alright?”

 

“Fine.” He wheezes after he takes a drink of his Tavum, before clearing his throat with a purr, before he looks up at me. “The idea?”

 

“Kandros and I were just discussing it- it wasn’t a serious idea.” I wave it off.

 

“I value your ideas, serious or not.” He states, causing me to look down, my cheeks burning as I spear another plantain.

 

“No, you don’t. Tann only took the idea seriously because, I’m the pathfinder’s sister.” I let out a huff, stabbing the plantains on my plate angrily. “That’s all I ever am.” I mutter under my breath as I drop my fork with a loud clatter, shoving my plate away as I look up at him. “We’re balanced on the precipice of change, right on the edge of the blade, teetering with the possibility to fall into a war.” He tilts his head to me, looking at me in curiosity. “Evfra, we don’t have an alliance between the Nexus and the Angara, and I don’t like that idea.”

 

“You worry we will strike in a manner for war? When we just won an 80 year battle?” His tone is angry, insulted.

 

“No.” I answer. “I’m worried that  _ we _ , the people of the Milky Way with attack with intent of war.” He frowns. “Tann is an asshole with only the Salarians well being in mind, whereas Addison has her own plot, they’re fighting me every step of the way for the good of everyone in the Andromeda Galaxy, and then I bring up an idea for bettering our relations between our races to Kandros, and suddenly the two most hated people in power positions are all for it?” He nods in understanding, while I sigh. “Still, Kesh, Kandros, The Moshae, and even Cassie thinks it’s a good idea.”

 

“Perhaps you can tell me, and if I believe it’s a good idea, then we can implement it in some way. I do not crave another war, when we’ve entered peace, and I believe that an alliance shall give us all some peace in mind.” He explains softly, causing me to clench my fist tightly, swallowing thickly as I grit my teeth in thought for a minute, before I let out a sigh, standing as I card my fingers through my hair.

 

“I-I need a few minutes to myself.” I state, walking out of the house without a care, my annoyance and uncertainty simmering under my skin, the cold air prickles my skin through my long sleeve shirt and jeans, causing me to rub my arms as I hold them close, realizing that I had forgotten my coat but not wanting to go back to the house because I need to think, so I continue past the house, down a secluded well worn path that is littered with decomposing leaves and overgrown plants, the leaves brushing my sides as I walk down the path, coming out at a meadow about a mile from the house, within the meadow is a small lake. The water is still babbling and running loudly, causing my blood to run colder than ice, my heartbeat thumping loud enough to echo in my ears, fear inching through my veins as I shakily struggle to turn, forcing myself to move back down the path as my chest aches from the pain of panic that is trying to set in, the cold air is a blessing on my feverishly hot skin, and once I start to calm down, I am halfway back to the house already.

 

It takes me three steps forward, once I am calm, to realize that I am not alone. Slowing to a small shuffle forward, I can hear movement in the treeline behind me, causing my hands to twitch, my biotics itching under my flesh to warp around my hands, but I’m smarter than that to give away my strongest and best ability. Suddenly they’re on me, someone strikes me from behind, causing me to grunt as I hit the ground with a rushed exhale of air, rolling over to see an Angara in purple, green, and gray armor with a green and purple rofjin around their shoulders, the Angara is obviously a male from their size, causing me to grit my teeth in a wicked grin as I realize that I won’t have to hold back my strength. He bares down on me with a gun perched in his hands, my leg snaps out, kicking one of his digitigrade legs, sending him backwards to the ground with a grunt as I spring into action, rolling to my feet as his friends exit the brush in the same armor, each of them attacking me with various versions of hand to hand, each one goes down at least once before someone gets smart, there’s a loud blasting sound before, something hot and burning hits my back, and causes me to freeze, my hands coming to my stomach in pain. Someone slams the butt of a gun into the back my head, causing things to go fuzzy, before I fall as everything goes black.


	8. Fight Song

 

Drifting in a pain-filled darkness, listless and lost, time an object of illusion as agony sinks in, before long my pain forces me into wakefulness, lethargy vanishes when I try moving my body, sharp pain radiates through my sternum, my hands are bound behind my back, and my legs are bound to the chair I’m on, causing me to jerk my head up. My gaze is blurred, fuzzy black around the edges, causing everything to be hard to distinguish as I let out a soft groan, shaking my head, as if to clear my mind and gaze, but there’s no change. “Do not move too much.” My head snaps in the direction of the reverberating voice, the telltale tone of light subharmonics tell me that it’s an Angara talking as I attempt to squint at the alien. “I ordered you not to be taken with damage, but we hadn’t expected such a fight. We had to bandage you.” He rumbles as he stalks around me, back and forth, back and forth.

 

“Why? You’re just gonna kill me.” I snap, causing him to chuckle.

 

“Perhaps.” He says with amusement in his voice.

 

“Who are you? Roekaar? I thought the human pathfinder ended your organization.” I demand.

 

“No. The Roekaar are fools, who believe the Milky Way are like the Kett, I know better. You are  _ worse _ than the kett. You will take our worlds by force, draining them of resources, and breed an army. You pretend to be our friends until you have enough strength to turn about and strike!” He shouts, something sharp buries itself in my leg, causing me to grit my teeth as a scream rips at my throat, attempting to escape as he twists the blade in my thigh, getting a grunt of pain and nothing else. “We are not the Roekaar, we are the  _ Tavetara _ . The Reborn. We lose something important, our  _ families _ , and we are reborn.” He growls, jerking the knife out of my thigh. “But, what makes our people stronger, is a weakness for you.  _ Love _ and  _ family _ are your weakness. So, when your brother and sister come to save you, they will willingly surrender themselves to save you, the final pockets of kett will then reorganize and wipe out the Milky Way people, and we will kill the remaining kett.” He growls, the blade is sunk into my other leg, dragging the scream from my throat as I thrash against my bindings, each jerk sends agony through me, jostling my abdomen and legs, and he laughs a booming laugh as he twists the knife into my thigh like the other one.

 

“And you mean to torture me until they get here.” I growl, causing him to chuckle.

 

“Our until the wounds I inflect kill you.” He answers, I can see him better now, the Angara is a light teal color, in purple and green armor, with scars running across his head under the cowl, down over one eye, and across on of the flaps of skin on the side of his head, and I look up into his nebula eyes with a twisted grin.

 

“You look like hell, what happen, Mom and Dad decide that they didn’t love you, and decide to defigure you to get pity?” I smirk, causing the Angara to roar in anger, lashing out with his large hand to smack me across the face, causing me to grunt as I tilt my head up to glare up at him. I can feel my cheek pulsating with blood already, my lip is split from the slap as well, dribbling blood down my chin as grin again, spitting at his feet. “Ooh, hit a sore spot, did I?”

 

“Your  _ Nexus _ people killed my family, blew up our home on Kadara, and I escaped the rubble with  _ this _ !” He snarls jerking my head back by my braid to point to his scar. “I held my newborns in my arms. Still. Lifeless. Dead. Killed by  _ your _ initiative.” He rips the knife out of my thigh, causing me to whimper in pain as he grins maliciously, one side of his mouth is pulled down in a permanent frown.

 

“Heh. Gives a new meaning to ‘Your face will get stuck like that’.” I taunt, causing him to throw my head back by his grip.

 

“Bitch!” He snarls, slapping me hard enough that the room swims for a minute, before I raise my head once more, my hands clenching into fists.

 

“You  _ honestly _ think you will get your way?” I demand, causing him to look at me as he stalks around me in circles. “You  _ honestly _ think my siblings would come for me? That you’ll just  _ get _ the Human Pathfinder? The Human Pathfinder for the Human Ambassador, you think that would work? I’m  _ expendable _ , idiot. I’m going to die here, and your attempts to bait the Nexus will be in  _ vain _ .” He growls as he grabs a hammer from the table across the room, he brings it down on my shoulder, causing me to scream in agony as my arm pops, and I can practically hear the bone snap. My stomach aches with a sickness as he stalks out of the room, laughing at my agony as a smoke fills the small room, before everything goes dark once more.

 

      ~Evfra/3rd POV~

 

It doesn’t take long before the Resistance Leader to realize that something is wrong, the vexing young woman he’s come to care for had left ten minutes ago, and by now he’d be greeted by her, back from a calming walk. His stomach clenches as he stands from the table, clipping his rofjinn into place, stalking out of the house. “Josie!” He calls, walking towards the town. “Jocelyn!” He calls again and again, no answer, no sign of the young human anywhere. “JOCELYN RYDER!” His voice is frantic now, drawing more Resistance Members attention, even the Moshae comes up to ask Evfra what is going on. “Jocelyn is gone. I’ve looked for two hours now, and nothing. She went on a walk, she needed time to calm down. She’s just gone.” Evfra explains, causing the others to spread out, helping search as the Moshae pulls Evfra to the side.

 

“We will find her, Evfra.” The Moshae promises. “Perhaps you passed each other, and she is at the house?” Evfra loves the Moshae, there are none who don’t, but her optimism is saddening with the history that not just the Angara have, but Evfra as well. He is thankful when the Political Woman leads the way back towards the house, the nagging feeling of something awful befalling the small human causes Evfra to feel physically ill, the thought that he has lost someone else is agony, especially the feisty woman whom has become his friend.

 

“Evfra!” He snaps out of his reverie to see a woman, Onsi, one of Josie’s bodyguards comes running towards himself and the Moshae, eyes wide with panic and sorrow. “I’m fearful that I did something bad!”

 

“What?” Evfra’s voice is an echo through the valley, it’s hollow in his mouth, and she looks at him sadly.

 

“I-I didn’t mean to! You know I love Josie, so I don’t know why I did it!” She panics, causing Evfra to grab her shoulders.

 

“Did what? What did you do?!” Evfra bellows, causing the woman to sniffle as tears fall.

 

“I-I turned her into the  _ Tavetara _ .” She says, causing his blood to run cold as he shoves the soldier.

 

“You have killed her! Why would you do such a thing?! Why?!” Evfra howls, agony clear in her voice.

 

“They threatened my family! I understand that the Resistance could protect them, but I didn’t know they’d kidnap her!” Onsi panics, rubbing her eyes sadly as Evfra drops his head to his hands.

 

“The  _ Tavetara  _ have no morals! They will torture her for information, use her as bait, anything they think will better their standing!” Evfra shouts, causing the Moshae to step forward, placing a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Be calm. Josie is one of us now, we will not rest until she has been returned safely to our world.” The Moshae’s words calm him beyond what he should allow in this situation. “Evfra, we know the  _ Tavetara _ are based out of Kadara, we can have the Pathfinder and her team track them down, and we can stage a rescue.”

 

“No.” Evfra refuses. “I will go with a select few myself, I will not risk Jocelyn’s family taking her back to the Nexus, and reposition her. We need her here.” His words leave no room for argument. “ _ I _ need her here.” He states, turning on his heels to start back to the HQ, when someone grabs his arm, causing him to look back at Onsi.

 

“I want to come. I have to come.  _ I _ did this to her. I was scared and I don’t care if she shoots me, and never forgives me, I’m going too.” Her words are final, causing Evfra to pause for a moment, before nodding.

 

“Alright, suit up. I will gather a few more, and we can fly to Kadara.” He says, walking off back towards HQ again.

 

      ~Josie POV~

 

These Angara are either stupid, or underestimate me, either way I’ve slowly been gathering information about my surroundings, and the details of the hideout. We’re on Kadara, I can tell by the food they feed me once a day, and the loud-ass guards outside my door talking about the water toxicity going down. The hideout isn’t that hard to find, turns out it’s in the side of the tallest mountain on Kadara, not far from the port, easier for trading, and not  _ all _ of the Angara here believe that the Milky Way people are a evil as the Kett. The bandages on my wounds are changed once every few days, when they’re soaked through with blood, the Angaran inflicting the wounds comes by three times a day to beat me down, spouting BS about my people, and every time he leaves, I’ve riled him more and more, waiting for the day that he snaps, drops his guard so I can take him out. The only sleep I get now is when they gas me, the sleep is restless, painful, my joints and wounds are in agony from the angle and the fact that every time my wounds start to heal a bit, the insane Angara reopens them with his favorite little knife. I’ve started being awoke with icy water getting doused on me, sending ice into my veins, and daggers into my wounds, all accompanied by a punch to my face, but I can tell. He’s getting close to the breaking point.

 

About a week and a half that I’ve been kidnapped, what wakes me isn’t pain or water, it’s the sound of explosions and gunfire, causing me to crack a wicked, twisted smile, my split lip dribbles blood as I break the bindings on my arms with a sharp pulse of my biotics, my shoulder screams in protest as I summon my omni-tool, cutting my bindings on my legs before I slide to the floor, attempting to gather the strength to stand on my bloodied and burning legs. Crawling on my one good arm and shaking legs, I make it to the wall by the door, pulling myself up against the wall, my shoulder protesting at the use of it as a cushion, I send my biotics into my foot, kicking the door off the hinges, knocking my guards clean out as one of their guns clatters across the ground, causing me to snatch it up, leaning against the wall to balance as I make my way down the hall, the rare idiot that wants to raise a weapon against me meets a gruesome end either by a bullet between the eye, a pulse of biotics blasting them back into a wall.

 

At one point, one tries to tackle me, only for me to unload the clip into his sternum, rolling him off of me as I lay on the floor panting, I struggle to my feet once more, and lean down to get his pistol clip, pausing at the familiar scarred face, causing the muffled fury to unleash inside as I jump on his struggle body, the Angara fighting his wounds is taken by surprise as I scream, pounding into hi face with the pistol in my hand, repeatedly, over and over, my arms and legs and wound protesting as I continue to pound on him, unable to stop even as I feel him stop moving, stop struggling, my voice is raw in my angry screams, tears pouring down my cheeks as I slam both my hands, interlocked around the gun, down on his blooded face, breathing heavily as I sniffle. The sound of running feet causes me to look up, too tired, too sore to even move, ready to resign myself to a shot for eternal sleep, the sight the beholds me is Evfra rounding the corner with Onsi, Nohv, Sora, and half a dozen other Resistance Members, Evfra’s arm shoots out to pause them as I give a shaky smile. “Evfra,” My voice croaks. “You’re late.” Everything goes dark as I slump to the side, exhaustion and pain overwhelming me.

 

      ~Evfra/3rd POV~

 

The minute his name spills from her lips, heavy with anguish and relief, a wave of awe and relief rolls over him, he dashes across the space the second her eyes roll in the back of her head, catching her up into his arms, his bioelectricity crackling against her biotic flushed skin, holding her in a way that he cradles her wounds without harming her. Anger burns in him at the stab wounds that litter her arms and legs, her sternum is wrapped in a bloody bandage, her shoulder is obviously broken, her face is swollen, it’s almost like there isn’t an inch of her that is unharmed. “Find out who this man is.” Evfra says, anger compelling him to send a kick to the dead body, it was obvious from the blood on Josie’s hands that  _ this _ was a personal kill, he could practically see every punch imprinted in his face, and every bullet hole in his chest is weeping blood, it was a much more merciful result that he’d wishes upon the Angara, he’d wanted to give him the same treatment that he’d given Josie. “Onsi, you are hereby relieved of your duty as assistant and bodyguard of Jocelyn Ryder, effective immediately.” Evfra starts towards the entrance.

 

“What?” Onsi protests, causing Evfra to turn on her, glaring at her.

 

“You run at the first sign of danger. You were hired for protection, instead you turn on the one you were hired for. Be glad I don’t strip your rank and stipend.” Evfra growls, turning back to walk away before he snaps at anyone else, preferring to focus on the small human in his arms. He makes it back to one of the shutter transits, letting on a medic, whom he watches carefully as he cleans Josie’s wounds, slathering the less serious ones on her legs and arms in medi-gel, but Evfra knows that the two on her thighs have probably damaged the muscles some, it’s going to take physical therapy for her legs to get better, he’s amazed she can walk at all, and her shoulder is almost completely shattered. Anger simmers and boils under his skin as he sits beside her, while Nohv drives the shuttle back to Aya, and hurt aches inside from the inability to protect what is his, once again. “I am sorry, Josie.” He murmurs, running his hand over the uninjured hand of the petite redhead, lost in the what ifs. What if he hadn’t made it in time? What if they had killed her right away? What if she hates him for this? What if he hadn’t let her go on that walk? What if? What if? What if? The thoughts gnaw at him for well after they land, even as the Nexus medical team, that came on the Tempest, meets them at the shuttle pad, he’s gnawed at by insecurities and What Ifs.

 

“What. Happened?!” Cassandra Ryder stands before him, her pink steak standing out against her dark locks, and black armor, her arms behind her back. “ _ You _ were suppose to watch her, protect her!”

 

“Not coddle her and suffocate her. Ever since your little slip of the tongue during your argument, and my own slip, she hasn’t trusted anyone besides Mikael. I tried my best.” Evfra answers, causing Cassie to lunge at the Angara, before Lysander Ryder grabs the woman’s shoulders, holding her back.

 

“Enough of that.” Lysander says. “It’s not Evfra’s fault, you and I both know that if he wanted to overprotect Josie, she would just rebel- She’d climb out of the window if she had to.” Somehow, Evfra’s not surprised.

 

“You can see her now.” Their Asari doctor speaks up, looking up at the datapad in her arm as they all walk towards the medbay. “She’s got a shattered arm, the thighs in her legs are almost destroyed by the damage done to them, though with physical therapy she will be able to walk properly again. She may never be in a military position.”

 

“Oh.” Cassie frowns as they pause outside the medical room.

 

“Because of the pain, I had to sedate her, she should be awake soon.” Lexi says, Lysander and Cassie exchange looks for a minute, hesitating at the thought of going inside as Lexi walks off.

 

“I’m going in. You should come in when you’ve thought about what to say.” Evfra says, causing Cassie to frown, looking down as the Resistance Leader enters the medical room, eyes landing on the redhead covered in bandages and medigel, her arm is casted in a medigel cast with a sling even.  _ She looks even tinier than before _ . He muses, walking over to sit beside her. He slowly reaches over to take her hand, and as he does, her eyes snap open as she sits up, fear and alert even in a drug induced haze.


	9. Trouble

 

   ~Josie POV~

 

Bolting up in the bed, my body is rigid as fear and panic shoot through me, someone’s hand comes to rest on my arm, causing me to scream, lashing out a fist to punch the person in the face, causing the person to grunt, falling backwards as I continue to scream. “Don’t touch me!” I screech at the person, only to grunter to sit up, calmly hold his hands up as I inch away from him. “D-Don’t come near me!” I whimper, causing the angara to stop from slowly stepping forward.

 

“Josie, it’s me.” It’s a comforting rumbling, familiar and soothing as I shake my head, struggling to shaking off the haze in my head.

 

“E-Evfra…” I press my lips in a firm line, burrowing my eyebrows. “E-Evfra, w-where am I?” I ask, looking around in confusion, causing him to reach for my hand, cupping it with one hand, before he reaches up to cup my bruised cheek.

 

“It’s alright.” He breathes softly. “You’re safe, you’re home on Aya.” He strokes my cheek softly, the skin tingles and aches, my body is sore and painful.

 

“Home.” I murmur softly, letting a wave of comfort roll across my skin, looking up into his nebula orbs, full of a stormy turmoil of emotions, and sadness and panic fill me as I reach for the hand on my cheek. “E-Evfra... I-I-I’m sorry, please don’t be angry.” I whimper as tears build, my body starts to shake as the fall. “I’m sorry.” He stands, moving his hand down my back to between my shoulder blades, pulling me close as warmth wraps around me, his bio-electrical currents zapping and snapping against my biotics, soothing me as I cry into his chest, holding him close as I can with my uncasted arm.

 

“It was not your fault.” He murmurs softly. “I am sorry, we could not get to you sooner.” His tone is soft, full of exhaustion and relief, my body sagging against him as he cards his other hand through my hair.

 

“How did you find me?” I ask softly after I calm down, and he repositions himself on the edge of the hospital bed.

 

“I called your sister after the first two days, she and Lysander came straight to Kadara, and the crew on the ship, myself, and some members of the Resistance searched the entire planet.” He answers, looking over the Angaran Leader, his shoulders are heavy and his eyes are weary, like he hasn’t slept for the entirety of my kidnapping. “We took out come outcast rebels, destroyed a few Roekaar hideouts, baited sme mercenaries, and blew up some of the _Tavetara_ ’s other hideouts, not all of them, but eventually we found some data about the main HQ, and the alien they’d recently captured. You.” He stroke my uninjured hand, up and down from palm to finger, tracing the indentations of the lines in my hand, eyes fixated on the movements, as if he’s afraid to meet my gaze.

 

“How did they-” His head shoots up at that, and he looks frantic at my questions that he knows that I can’t finish.

 

“Onsi Ade Kjaav. Her family was threatened, so she gave your name and location. She turned herself in when she heard you were missing.” Evfra explains, causing me to look down at my hands in my lap, a lump forms in my throat, making it difficult to swallow.

 

“S-So… h-how bad is it?” My question causes him to look at me for a single moment, before he looks away.

 

“Physical therapy for your legs will help you walk. You shoulder is shattered, that is why your arm is in a medigel cast. You were littered with cuts, thankfully none where life threatening, you were shot in the back, but thankfully it missed anything vital, and… I hadn’t noticed until you sat up, but your hair…” His words causes my hand to fly to my head, slowly following the locks down until I feel the bottom, where they had been at my waist, the locks now are jaggedly uneven, just below my shoulder blades, causing me to wince, looking down as I bite my bottom lip, fighting to swallow around the even bigger lump in my throat.

 

“I-It’s just… hair.” I wince as my throat breaks on the lie, Evfra rumbles as he pets my hair for a moment, before he slides off the bed.

 

“I will be back.” He says, pressing his forehead to my own for a moment, careful of the broken skin there, before he turns to walk out the door, a turmoil of pain and sadness churn inside my chest as I stare at my hands in my lap. The door opens a few moments later, drawing my attention as Cassie and Lysander enter, my siblings rush me, Cassie’s arms thrown carefully around me, knocking me back on the bed and Lysander follows her, the two of them dogpiling on me, though I notice they’re seriously careful about the pressure and their position.

 

“I’m so glad you’re alright!” Cassie says as they pull back, Lysander helps me sit up once more, so I can lean back against the wall on my good arm, and Cassie runs her fingers through my sad hair, her finger curling around one chunk of one of the uneven strands, before she lets it go, it falls limply as Lysander frowns, both of them knowing how much I had treasured my long red locks- a gift from my mother, where are the twins got her eyes. “It’s alright. I-It’ll grow back.” Cassie gives a shaky smile, though it sounds more like she’s trying to reassure herself, more than me. “We can cut it, evenly.” She offers, but I shake my head, smiling softly.

 

“No, I don’t want it any shorter. When it gets longer, we can cut the uneven bits.” I answer, causing her to nod as Lysander holds my hand on my otherside, rubbing my hand in sweeping circles across my knuckles.

 

“You need to come back to the Nexus, for your therapy. Doctor Carlyle can oversee all the work. Then we can place you in safer position.” Cassie says, causing me to shake my head at her.

 

“No chance. Do you know how many people I’ve come to trust here? What good I can do in this position? I’m not leaving. Everyone needs me here.” I state, causing Cassie to look at me in confusion, before she glances at the door, and back to me.

 

“Is there something going on between you and Evfra?” She asks, causing me to frown, before I shake my head, looking at her.

 

“He’s one of my greatest friends. It hurts to be away from Mikael, knowing he’s in Andromeda, and you want to pull me away from my second best friend too? Besides, Evfra runs a _military_ . Where would you put me that could be safer? This was _my_ fault. _I_ walked out of the house. This is on _me_ . Not Evfra, so don’t blame him.” I state in a firm tone. “I’ve suffered a week and a half of abuse and torment, never once did the thought of Evfra or you guys leaving me to die, cross my mind. I _knew_ that one of you guys would come, but I made _them_ think that you thought of me as expendable. They were getting impatient and mad. They’d either kill me, or make a mistake and slip- you came before that happened.”

 

“Are you sure you’re okay, Josie?” Lysander asks, causing me to turn to look at him, his soft fingers trailing over my broken skin across my face, my swollen eye, and cut lip, reach over to my mangled and scabbed over ear. “You’re so… hurt.” He murmurs softly, his eyes are full of tears as I lean into his chest, hugging my brother with my arm around his waist.

 

“I’m okay.” I answer softly, causing him to sniffle as he wraps his arms around me as well, after a few minutes he presses a soft kiss to the crown of my head, before we pull apart, and Cassie leans her head on my good arm.

 

“We were so scared, you know?” Cassie says, causing me to smile sadly as I nod.

 

“Yeah. I know.” I answer softly, causing my siblings to exchange looks, before looking at me as I let out a soft yawn, lulling my head back to rest if against the wall.

 

“We can leave if you want.” Lysander offers, causing me to shake my head.

 

“Alright, we’ll stay tonight.” Cassie agrees without too much of a fight as I blink softly, my eyes blurring as I fall fast asleep.

Young Ellen and Alec Ryder ^

 

     ~Evfra/3rd POV~

 

Walking into the medical room, arms loaded down with food on a tray, he pauses at the sight of the three siblings perched on the bed, Josie against the wall with Cassandra on her good arm, while Lysander is on her leg, further up than her wound, all three of them are asleep. Evfra smiles to himself as he sets the tray on the nearby table, grabbing the blankets from the end of the bed to throw over the three of them, feeling like he’s seen something he probably shouldn’t have. He glances sorrowfully at the redhead, guilt and sorrow churning and mixing together uncomfortably, he barely makes a sound as he leave the medical bay, Nohv comes running up to him with a datapad clutched in his fist, pausing before Evfra to hand him the datapad. “Everything on the dead man we found.”

 

“Summarize it for me.” Evfra orders, causing Nohv to nod, looking down to switch the datapad on.

 

“He’s the _Tavetara’s_ co-leader, a branched off section that is in charge of information and punishment.” He starts. “His name is Janren Shege, his family home on Kadara was blown up by outcasts from the Nexus, killed everyone but him.”

 

“He blames Cassandra, which is why he went after Josie. To subject her to the same pain.” Evfra finishes for him, growling in anger as Nohv nods.

 

“Yes. He felt it only fair.” Nohv answers, causing Evfra to nod in agreement, before taking the datapad in his hand, and moving toward the HQ. He has some calls to make.  


    ~Josie POV~

 

Lysander and Cassie leave the next day, after reassurance that I will be fine on Aya, they leave behind a member from the Nexus medical team to watch and take care of me, while the Nexus and Evfra make arrangements for Harry’s arrival. That took some coaxing to do, Evfra agreed to allow mining on Havarl in exchange for the doctor, due to his history with treating my father during his N7 days, his history with treating Cassie after her trip on Habitat 7, and Lysander throughout his coma. I never thought that I’d live to see Cassie and Evfra agree on anything, but they both demanded that Harry had to come to Aya to oversee my healing.

 

Harry arrived within two days, along with an Asari assistant that goes by the name Celi Vadri, a doctor barely into her Matriarch years but willing to help however she can. She has skin of violet and lavender tones, her scalp crests are pierced with gold chains dangling to the back of her neck, and deep green eyes. Once my gunshot wound and my shoulder are healed, along with my leg wounds, Celi starts on my physical therapy, it’s simple yet painful, each day I push myself more and more past my comfort zone, rebuilding and shaping the muscles before I’m allow to work on trying to walk again. Everyday I get a visit from Evfra, Nohv, and Sora, on occasion Lysander and Cassie stop by Aya for a visit on the way to a mission, giving me updates on mom’s status and how close we’re getting to a cure thanks to SAM, even Mikael comes to visit often, and it’s always the same urge to get out of the bed, and go go go as much as I can. Because of my impatience, it only takes two months of work before Celi and Harry clear me for walking therapy.

 

“You must get better soon.” Evfra says on his visit one day, examining Celi and I’s work, the Asari Doctor is turning up the speed on the treadmill to 2, while I hold most of my weight on my arms, the harness helping to keep me standing, an extra measure of security that Harry had insisted upon this early in my process. “It is too quiet at home, dinner is lonely.” I shoot the stoic leader a ‘really?’ look with a raised eyebrow, huffing for breath from the exertion that comes with the therapy.

 

“If she keeps up the good work, she might be home in a month or two.” Celi explains as she eyes my vitals, making sure to write everything that happens on the datapad in her hands. “Unless she pushes herself too hard, which can result in a strain that can push her rehabilitation back significantly.” The Asari shakes her head. “Things could be sped up on the Nexus, she’s stable enough to be moved now.”

 

“ _No_.” Evfra and I snap at the purple Asari in unison, the reaction draws a smile from my newest friend, her eyes dropping to the treadmill speedometer, before checking my vitals once again, and going back to the datapad, double checking the information she’d entered, before she moves my hands for me, from the sides of the exercise machine to the bars at the front, the unexpected movement jostles my balance, and I trip over my own feet, the harness yanking me off the treadmill as Celi moves fast enough to hit the stop button as I let out an annoyed growl, dangling from the harness as Evfra stands from his chair.

 

“Are you alright?” He asks worriedly.

 

“This harness is embarrassing.” I bite in an irritated tone, cause Celi to sigh.

 

“Dr. Carlyle only agreed to this _if_ and only if you wore the harness, let chance for injury.” Celi states, reaching for the hooks as Evfra lifts me into his arms, allowing for a safe drop from being suspended from the ceiling, the harness falls from my legs as soon as the hooks give way, and Evfra sweeps me over to the bed, placing me down as I blush.

 

“It’s all still embarrassing.” I retort sharply, causing Celi to laugh.

 

“Believe me, I understand.” She says, placing the datapad on the table by the treadmill. “I will update Dr. Carlyle. You get some rest.” She says, walking out as I let out a huff, falling back on the pillow with a puff.

 

“Like I have anything else I can do?” I mutter, looking over at the blue Angara sitting beside me. “Read it to me.” I state, eyeing the mission report from the first ever APEX and Resistance team up. He gives me a grimace that could even be construed as a smirk or smile, before starting from the beginning, his rumbling voice calming and comfortable, familiar as I drift off in a peaceful sleep, nightmares and memories for once are far from my mind.


	10. Flightless Bird, American Mouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get some information about Josie's past, not very far- Try the Geth invasion on the Citadel. It's hard to believe that something like what happened to her stirs up such memories, but it does.

It wasn’t very long until I had been cleared for walking with crutches, the Tempest has just happened to dock today for a visit and to resupply for Jaal, so I took a walk down to the docks, leaning against the banister as the door to the cargo hold opens, revealing my siblings, Vetra, Liam, and Drack, the last three I haven’t seen in ages as they weren’t allowed in the medical bay, as they weren’t family nor Angara, seeing them now makes me feel like years have passed instead of the five months since I left the Tempest. “Firecracker!” Liam calls as he spots me, coming over to me in a jog, stopping barely a foot away so as to not bowl me over, and I smile at him as he reaches over to hug me, minding the metal crutches. The warm that radiates him is different than I’ve become accustomed to, while still comforting, there’s no underlying buzz of bioelectricity, just a warm smell of smoky wood, Initiative supplied soap, and well, just Liam. “How have you been?” He asks as the pull apart, the others spotting her as well.

 

“Josie!” Vetra’s tone is relieved as she comes over, Drack right on her tail, yelling out a booming ‘Scrapper!’ the nickname surprising me as he slaps me on the back, jostling and knocking me forward enough that both Vetra and Liam scramble to help keep me on my feet, a box in Vetra’s hands. “You okay?” The turian asks softly, her mandibles twitching and fluttering to reveal her nerves and worries.

 

“I’m good,” I smile at them. “physically I’m not, but everything else is good. I’ve gotten analyzed by a psychologist, and there’s some PTSD, but I’m not in a harmful position, and I’m not irrevocably sad.” I shuffle against the banister and the crutches, looking up at them. “I started Physical Therapy a few months ago, today’s my first day on the crutches- I was told that as long as I rest and come back before I’m in any explicit pain, I should be alright to walk around the city. I also haven’t been cleared to return home- I mean, to Evfra’s.” I finish my explanation as Liam nods.

 

“Sounds good, I’m glad it’s not too bad, Firecracker. Ya know we miss you on the ship.”

 

“You miss my  _ cooking _ .” I retort as Liam gasps, feigning insult as he presses a hand to his chest.

 

“I’m  _ wounded _ that you would think that! Absolutely astounded!” He cries as Drack laughs and Vetra shoves her talons in his face, pushing him away as she presents the box to me.

 

“The ice skates you requisitioned, and I found a vintage MP3 player with headphones, I thought you might enjoy them.” She says as she tucks the box under her arm.

 

“Vetra, you’re the  _ best _ !” I cry, leaning forward to wrap my arms around her long torso in a hug, before pulling away to smile up at her.

 

“And I got a bunch of pictures of my grandkids that you wanted to see.” Drack says, causing me to grin.

 

“Great, forward them to my omni-tool, okay?” He grins as I stand, waddling over to my brother and sister who have been waiting patiently for me to catch up with my friends, as I get to them, they both wrap me in a hug at the same time, my arms winding around their shoulders to give them both hugs too. “I missed you guys.”

 

“Yeah, we missed you too.” Lysander says as we pull apart, and I lean heavily on my crutches.

 

“We meant to be back sooner, but that pocket of Kett was difficult to clear out, and dummy here got us captured at one point. Then Lexi insisted on recuperating back on Meridian where Harry and she could be watch us.” Cassie explains, petting my uneven braid, causing me to smile sadly, and she sighs. “You should let me cut it.” She points out.

 

“I’ve been thinking about it, it’s time for a change.” I explain, she smiles sadly at me, in understanding.

 

“I brought supplies for it.” She states. “Lysander and Liam have been talking about getting haircuts for a while now.”

 

“I-” I press my lips together firmly, before I nod. “Alright. Let's do it.” I answer determinedly, causing her nod, before she disappears back onboard the Tempest, Lysander and I following behind her. Sitting the cargo bay on a crate, Lysander holds my hand as Cassie snips and clips and cuts my jagged locks, before long my head is lighter than it has been in over 612 years, my hair is short, and when Lysander offers me the mirror once Cassie’s finished with it, I can’t help but touch my hair, tearing up a bit as sadness overwhelms me.

 

“Sorry, Josie, it had to be cut that short, it wasn’t savable past that length.” My sister explains sadly, causing me to bite my lip, nodding.

 

“I know. I understand.” I answer, before Lysander helps me stand, Cassie hands me my crutches as I look down. “I-I need so time alone.” I state, causing them to exchange looks, but before they can answer, I hobble down the cargo bay ramp, out into the city. A few of the Angara stare at me in confusion, like they’ve never seen me before, while the once I know are in shock, Felaan, the friendly fruit vendor, stops me with a hand on my shoulder, her mouth wide in a shocked gape.

 

“It is you, Josie! Oh dear, what happened to your hair, my  _ Tavataan _ ?” She breathes softly, tears welling in her eyes. Her sadness echoes within me as I reach up a bit to touch the short locks, before pasting a forced smile upon my lips.

 

“I cut it. It was getting too hard to care for.” I lie, causing her to stare.

 

“You can cut it? Doesn’t it hurt?” She asks, causing me to blink, before I let out a burst of laughter, surprised by her question.

 

“No! Hair is attached to our heads, but we can’t feel much when it come to it. There’s no feeling in our hair.” I explain carefully, causing her to stare even more, before she smiles.

 

“I am glad that there was no pain.” She states. “But it’s a shame you cut it, it was so pretty.” Tears burn at her comment, causing me to smile sadly at her.

 

“Yes, well, it was time for a change.” I answer. “Have a good day, Felaan.” I say, before hurrying off through the town. Coming to the Resistance Headquarters, I enter the building to go to Evfra’s office, the door shoots open to reveal Evfra at his desk, scanning the datapad in his hand, and as I cross over to stand beside the desk, he looks up, the datapad clattering to the tabletop as surprise colors his face.

 

“Josie…” He breathes, shock evident as he rounds the desk, not caring about the other Resistance Members in the room, his hand comes up to rest on the base of my neck, only pausing when I flinch a bit, before nodding. The tips of his fingers brush my short locks, causing me to bite my bottom lip, looking down as tears burn in my eyes. “It… suits you.” He states, dropping his hand as the words wash over me, causing me to smile up at him, the tears fought back as he smiles back, nodding to me. “You are up and around, that is good. I hope to see you at home soon.” He says, changing the subject as the others that were staring turn back to their work, causing me to smile up at him.

 

“I hope to be back at the house soon as well. The medical bay gets boring and stuffy after a while.” I answer, rounding the desk to hop onto it next to the blue Angara, leaning my crutches next to me as he watches me, before he picks up the datapad that had fallen, and starts to scan it again. “I also hope that Tann and Addison aren’t being too much of an ass to you, regarding colonization. I’ve been getting updates from Kesh, but they’re varied and very… bare.” Evfra just huffs.

 

“I am used to it.” He states.

 

“You’re  _ used _ to the needling tone that Tann uses?” I scoff, looking out the window behind him. “The sound makes me want to put a drill to my temple. You’ll have to teach me how to get used to it.”

 

“Yes, his voice  _ is _ quite… irritating.” Evfra agrees, causing me to laugh.

 

“Yeah, whereas Addison’s tone  _ annoying _ ! She thinks she’s better than everyone else, and  _ enjoys _ it!” I point out, causing Evfra to rumble with a soft laugh.

 

“Yes. Kesh and Kandros filled me in on why you must now use vidcalls for meetings, rather than going to the Nexus.” He says, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.

 

“Oh? I forget, was that the time I threatened to pull Tann’s eyeballs out and force feed them to Addison? Or was it when I threatened to rip out Addison’s mammary glands and shove them down Tann’s throat?” Evfra snorts as I grip the desk, shaking in laughter at my own memories.

 

“I believe it was when you threatened to… what was it? “Blow Tann’s ass out of the main gun of a Turian Frigate and serve his nonexistent balls cold to the Krogan.” that time. I must admit that you seem to have a strange fascination with feeding people to others.” Evfra states.

 

“Only the people that annoy me. Also, Krogan have been known to enjoy the taste of Salarians.” I grin at him, causing him to smile at me, before long my smile fades as I look down, fingers twisting together before coming apart.

 

“What is it?” He asks, causing me to card my fingers through my short hair, before looking up at him.

 

“You never answered my question. I always ask it, and you never answer it. Did I kill him?” I finally insist, causing Evfra to pause in his work, before sighing as he sets his datapd down, and looks up at the others in the room.

 

“Leave us.” He orders, causing the rest of the Angara to leave the room, before Evfra turns to lean against the desk beside me.

 

“Did I?” I press, causing him to look at me. “I get these nightmares, where he’s stabbing me, but then I look up, and there’s this mirror where it’s me, with the knife, and I’m just  _ covered _ in deep blue blood. The Angara is dead at my feet in the mirror, and when I look back down, it’s not him anymore, it’s… it’s you.” I admit, causing him to look at me in surprise, but I swallow thickly as tears burn in my eyes, twisting my fingers together as I study them deeply. “It’s so real, I can feel the blood on my skin, and the knife in my hand. I wake up, but it’s not really waking up, I’m still dreaming- the dream is a repeated cycle, until I finally wake up for real, and when I sit up… I-I can still  _ feel _ it, the blood, and I-I can still see it.” I look up at Evfra. “It’s like the blue is  _ stained _ on my skin, no matter how much I scrub at them, or try to get to leave my mind, I… I can always feel it.” I clear my throat, swallowing against the lump in it. “Even now.”

 

“Josie,  _ he _ would not have hesitated to  _ kill _ you if it benefited his need. His cause.” Evfra explains, but I can still feel guilt weighing in my chest as I look at him. He sighs as I see movement out of the corner of my eye, before I can do anything Evfra has my chin in a tight grasp, lifting my face despite the resistance I give. “Jocelyn, he  _ was _ going to kill you.” He looks in my eyes, firmly grasping my chin between his thumb and his fused together fingers. “He would feel no guilt nor remorse it he were alive and you were dead. He would feel anger and vengeance, he would only care about killing  _ more _ innocent people, because  _ he _ believes that it would be justified.” I frown as I look away, forcing my head from his hand. “I am not saying do not feel fear, nor guilt for what you have done. But remember that if you had not shot first,  _ he _ would have, and  _ he _ would’ve shot to kill as well.” He explains thoroughly, causing me to nod softly, crossing my arms over my chest as I study the floor of the office, and he moves back to my side to lean against the desk, his arms crossing as well.

 

“You know the first time I picked up a gun, it was in the middle of an invasion?” He looks at me, but I focus on the floor. “Mikael and I were on the Citadel, it’s a place like the Nexus, with a few friends, and there were these AIs that invaded, Geth, and they were killing people. Mikael and one of our other friends, Johnny, got separated from myself and our fourth friend, Lissa.” I stare at the floor sadly, clenching my hands into fists, hugging my arms to my stomach. “Lissa died, and so did Johnny, Mikael was seriously wounded, I suffered from some minor injuries, but the nightmares…” I shutter. “It was the first time I ever saw battle, and there was so much destruction,  _ death _ and blood, it stayed for months. Almost haunted me for a year. It was… Horrible.” I give a self-deprecating smile, shaking my head. “I sound pitiful, I suffered from  _ nightmares _ but Johnny and Lissa’s families were  _ destroyed _ , they  _ died _ . Cause of  _ my _ stupidity.” I look up at Evfra. “Just like someone I knew could have died because of my capture. I’m just… Why can’t something go right? Why do I have to bring such bad luck and trouble wherever I go?” I let out a tired sigh, while Evfra rests a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look at him from the corner of my eye.

 

“You are not bad luck, and you do not bring trouble wherever you go- You are a Ryder, trouble seems to follow your family because you are strength and fearless personified.  _ You _ , Jocelyn Ryder, in particular are a light upon Aya that seems to have been missing for quite some time.” My heart feels light at his words, and as I look at him, he surprises me by giving me a smile, a  _ real _ and true smile, causing my heart to sputter and skip and throb, my hand flies to my chest, rubbing at the pain in surprise.  _ Heart? Heart are you okay? _ I think as I rub, unable to look away from my friend. “Are you-?”

 

“Fine.” I answer, dropping my hand as give an attempted smile. “It’s fine. I just had a random strike of pain that decided to pop up. Happens.” I lie easily, Evfra’s frown is back as he looks skeptic, and I bite my bottom lip as I look down. “Thank you, Evfra. It’s… I am happy to hear those words, it’s a relief.” He nods as I slide off the desk, shuffling my crutches around as the door opens to reveal a Resistance Member checking to see if it’s alright to come back inside, when Evfra glances at me, I nod, and the rest come trickling in. “I am getting a bit tired, so I need to head back to the medbay. I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

“No doubt. I should enjoy the vacation while I can.” He jokes, causing me to gasp, clutching my chest as if I’ve been wounded.

 

“Oh! Right in my feels!” He grimaces as I smile at him. “Bye Evfra.” I start towards the doors.

 

“Stay Strong and Clear, Josie.” He answers as I smile to myself, shaking my head as I glance at him over my shoulder, before biting my bottom lip as my chest aches from my heart beating so quickly.  _ What is going on with me? _

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please comment and tell me what you guys think! Kinda having a bit of a slow time writing right now, but I hope it picks up soon.


	11. Dazed and Confused

 

A few weeks after my heart to heart with Evfra, I was cleared to return back to the house, so long as I continued my stretches, walks, and physical therapy sessions. My first night back, Evfra made was could only be described as a feast, Cassie and Lysander were docked that night, so we had over half the Tempest, Mikael, Dr. Carlyle and Celi, and a few Angara squeezed into the small two bedroom for dinner. It reminded me of the Thanksgivings and Christmases that I would crash, Mikael’s or some random co-worker that invited me, the places were always packed, but always fun. But, after that, Evfra and I agreed that the house’s capacity had been capped and we wouldn’t be doing that again save for  _ super special _ occasions. A few days afterwards, I am sitting on the couch in the living room while Evfra is at work, looking out the window, thanks to the new vantage point from the rearranged furniture, my chin in my hand as my elbow rests on the armrest, letting out a soft sigh as I think back to the incident with the pain in my chest. I had asked Celi about the pain, and explained the situation on when it appeared, she just laughed.  _ Laughed! _ Then told me that I would figure it all out in time, and that if I didn’t then I was, perhaps, beyond hope. Cassie and Lysander both thought it amusing as well, Evfra, when I told him that the others laughed at my pain, did not.

 

Sighing as I press off the couch, I glance around the house, before ducking around the corner of the couch, I disappear into my room to change from my pajamas into a pair of shorts and a tank top, pausing in the middle of tugging the tank top down, to look in the full length mirror on the back of my bedroom door. Two spots right beneath my shorts are pink, puckered and raised, scars from the knives that are pulled in on themselves, there was only so much they could do without the cosmetic surgery equipment that had back in the Milky Way. Across my shoulders and down my sides are light cuts that might as well be painted in neon, each mark a permanent reminder of my stupidity that had allowed me to be captured, each filling me with as much dislike as I have for the burns from my cooking days on the Presidium, or that one birthmark that I have in the divet of my hip, in a shade of reddish brown, and the shape of a heart. Tugging the shirt the rest of the way down, I toss my clothes into the laundry chute before grabbing the MP3 player and headphones that Vetra had found and brought for me, putting the headphones on to push back my bangs as I turn on my music, I find myself in awe that the ancient device still works, no doubt from Vetra tinkering on it considering that I notice a few alterations.

 

Very old Earth jazz music pours into my ears, causing me to smile as I make my bed with fresh sheets and bedding, before tossing the dirty sheets and bedding down the chute, picking up strown clothes to toss into the chute, I straighten out a few knick knacks that my siblings and friends have brought me, dusting my few picture frames off, before moving across the hall to Evfra’s room. Dancing around the room, I toss clothes down the chute, making his bed with fresh sheets and bedding, before dusting off the knick knacks and picture frames that he has, I pause on the one that actually had a picture in it, picking it up to study it. I hadn’t seen it, it’s a possibility he’s had it hidden until recently, or I just never noticed, but it’s of a young, scarfree Evfra, a smile on his face as he is ducked under the arm of a bigger unfamiliar Angara, one of a teal color, obviously a man who has a smile on his face, and a mauve Angara is on his arm, a woman, the three of them have the same colored  _ Rofjins _ , causing me to blink.  _ His  _ **_family_ ** . I think to myself. Only two of the members but still part of his family.  _ Maybe his true siblings?  _ I can’t help but feel breathless at the unfamiliar light and laughter in the familiar blue Angaran’s eyes, my heart thrums painfully at the idea of what may have happened to them, what would’ve caused the deep emotional and physical scarring in my friend. Hesitantly, I place the photo back into place, swallowing against the lump in my throat, before I turn away from the room, and continue my cleaning spree in the living room.

 

Dusting knick knacks, cleaning the windows, adjusting the throw blanket that I added to the strange couch, and straightening the furniture after doing something similar to vacuuming, before moving into the kitchen. I fix up dinner so that it’s ready to heat up by the time Evfra gets in, before I fix myself lunch, eating up what I can, I realize that there is enough leftovers for another person, so I box them up, and toss on my initiative blues, pulling on my shoes too. The walk to the city is short, the Angara that are walking around in the housing district and to and from the city think that they are sneaky, watching out for me like I don’t know, even though I do. The walk to the Resistance Headquarters is uneventful, despite the many Angara that turn their head in my direction, watching as I walk by as if it’s my first day on Aya all over again. I pause outside of the HQ when I see Evfra outside the doors, a few Angara women surrounding him with their hands full of boxes, my surprise must be on my face, because one of the guards steps up to me. “Evfra is on his way to lunch, this is an everyday thing- Most women hope to get his attention, so a lot of them make him lunch.” He explains, I realize that the security guard is one that I’ve seen many times, his name is Ersho De Ved, if I remember correctly, and his guard partner is his sister, Ishfi De Ved.

 

“Yeah.” I grind my teeth, an annoyed and angry feeling wells in the pit of my stomach, causing me to grip the box in my hands tighter, before I hand it to the guard. “Happy eating.” I mutter as I turn away, my heart burns and aches in my chest, and confusion muddles with the annoyed and angry feeling, the annoyance and anger I feel at the confusion muddled emotions stirring inside of me is causing me to gnaw at my bottom lip as I start towards the housing district once more.  _ What is happening to me?! _ It repeats in my head like a manta as I press a firm fist to my chest, gritting my teeth as I enter the house, heading down to the basement, where the clothing chute lets out. It’s a small area, with a basin and clothing line, Evfra had forgone the modern amenities of washing machines and dryers, but I didn’t mind much as I put in my headphones, cranking the music to an nearly painful level, before setting to work on washing the clothes.

 

It’s late by the time Evfra gets home, later than usual, though I am still up folding laundry as he walks in the door, drawing my attention from the pants that I am folding. “Good, you’re back.” I stand as he looks at me in question, but I hand him his clothes before disappearing into my room to put my clothes away, changing before I come back out. Evfra looks at me in confusion as I tug the belt around my waist tighter, hooking it before I brush the skirt of the blue dress off. “Dinner’s in the fridge, I’m going out with a few others, I’ll be back later.” I state, tucking the matching blue headband into my hair, stepping around to Angara as he turns to watch me, and I pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t wait up.” I grab my jacket as I exit the house, making my way through the night towards the  _ Tavataan _ , where I meet up with Nohv, Sora, Felaan, and a few other Angara, as well as some of the Asari and humans around Aya. “Hey guys!” I greet as I step up to the table.

 

“Josie!” Nohv, Sora, and Felaan all call in greeting as I brush the skirt of my dress, sitting in the seat before me.

 

“Sorry I was late, Evfra was late getting back, and you now how protective he’s gotten.” I state, as Felaan hands me a neon green drink.

 

“You  _ were _ kidnapped and tortured for a week and a half.” Nohv points out.

 

“That was  _ months _ ago. He doesn’t like me leaving the house at night, without an escort, and I have to wait for him to get back, so I can tell him where I’m going.” Nohv chuckles, but Sora bumps him with her elbow.

 

“Well, you’re not out to talk about Evfra. You’re out with us to have fun.” Felaan points out as I pop the top off my glowy drink, taking a drink as Sora goes around the table, introducing some of the others. The night is full of lively chatter, drinking, and laughter, one of the Angara and an Asari seem to pay special attention to myself, causing me to keep a suspicious eye on them.

 

“You are a cook?” The Angara, Vojan Tivfre, inquires as he leans closer to me as he drinks his Paripo and Quilloa juice mixed with  _ Tavum _ , eyeing me as he runs his tongue across his bottom lip, causing me to shoot Nohv and Sora a pointed look, they both grin like the cat that ate the Canary, and I turn back to Vojan.

 

“Yes, I was a cook back in the Milky Way.” I answer, causing him to hum, it’s practically a purr deep in his throat. “I’ve been cooking since I was young, so I made a career out of it.” He takes another drink as the Asari, Jethynia Calena, grabs the crook of my elbow, tugging me to look at her.

 

“What do you like to do?” She asks, causing me to smile as I take a sip of my drink.

 

“I’m a fan of reading, cooking, dancing, and helping people.” I answer, seeing Felaan eyeing the Asari and I  _ too _ happily, causing me to sigh as I take a large drink to finish the neon glow off, before I stand up. “I think that I’m going to retire for the night, seeing as it’s 0300 in the morning, and I have work starting tomorrow, or well, later today.” They all give a bummed out cry, before Felaan and Sora stand.

 

“We’ll walk back with you.” They say, causing me to eye them, before I start towards the housing district with the two of the on either side of me. Once out of ear range and eyesight, I turn on the two of them, scowling.

 

“What was  _ that _ ?!” I demand harshly, causing them to exchange looks. “You said  _ meet  _ and _ greet _ , not try and set Josie up!” Felaan gapes.

 

“You knew?” Sora asks in surprise, causing me to slapping myself in the forehead with my hand, shaking my head with a sigh, before I cross my arms over my chest.

 

“Of  _ course _ I knew! Look, I appreciate the help, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I’m just trying to focus on  _ not _ starting a war between our species, and at the same time, I’m trying to re-find myself.” I explain.

 

“And you’re in love with Evfra.” Nohv says, joining the conversation.

 

“Exactly, and I- Wait  _ what _ ?!” I demand, causing Nohv to stare at me.

 

“You are. In love. With Evfra.” He answers shortly, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.

 

“In love with-? That’s crazy! I’ve got  _ no _ such feelings for him, he’s just one of my greatest and best friends.” I look between the three of them, Sora’s eyes a sparkling at the idea, while Felaan gasps aloud.

 

“It makes sense! I’ve read some of your human literature, I believe it is call Florence Nightingale Syndrome.” She says, causing me to scoff.

 

“That’s insane. Besides that, Evfra wasn’t my doctor or Nurse, so Ceri or Harry would be on the receiving end of that if it were true.” I shake my head.

 

“I believe you are in  _ denial _ .” Felaan says, cause me to stare at her.

 

“You  _ are _ kidding me, correct?” I snort. “Unbelievable. I’m going home.” I turn to walk away, Felaan and Sora squeal as I huff out a breath, shaking my head in disbelief.

  
  


“Oh my god, you’re in denial!” Mikael laughs from the other end of the vidcall, gripping his white locks in his fists, a wide grin on his face, a few days later on my second day off that week. “I ought to fly to Aya right now, and lock the two of you in a closet! Make you admit it!” He laughs.

 

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!” I snap. “I am  _ not _ fodder for your  _ Friendfiction _ !” He chuckles as he leans back in his chair, slapping his hand on his desk top.

 

“Embrace the cliche, Maraschino. You are  _ roommates _ , and you’re under his protection, like he’s your  _ bodyguard _ . You are in denial about your feelings, but you know you  _ feel _ something, or you wouldn’t have brought up the situation! I doubt your Angara has even realized that he feels anything towards you, that is something other than total apathy. You’re literally a walking  _ friendfiction  _ waiting to happen!” He cracks a grin. “Embrace the cliche, doll! It’s gonna happen!” He giggles.

 

“No. It won’t.” I deny.

 

“100 credits and a drink that it will.” I snort, crossing my arms over my chest.

 

“ _ 200 _ credits and a dozen shots.” I challenge.

 

“It’s a bet!” He cackles as I roll my eyes, smirking.

 

“Dinner’s almost done, bye Mikael.” He grins as I shoot him a peace sign.

 

“Bye Josie!” He answers, before we end the vidcall, and I lean back with a huff, crossing my arms over my chest as I worry my lip between my teeth. There’s a knock on the door, before it opens to reveal Evfra as i turn to it.

 

“Dinner is done.” He says, causing me to beam at him.

 

“Alright, I’m coming.” I state as he nods, closing the door, and my smile falls as I feel my heart thump wildly in my chest.  _ I’m so losing this bet. _ I think with a groan, standing from my desk chair, leaving the room.  _ Maybe happily _ .


	12. ~Black magic~

<Josie POV>

 

Three weeks later has Evfra pacing back and forth in front of the door as I lounge against his desk, watching the anxious Angara treading a line in the floor. “Evfra, would you calm down?” He turns to look at me, a question in his eyes as I cross my arms over my chest. “If anything _I_ should be nervous. This is _my_ reunion with my mother.” His face softens at that as he comes over, resting a large hand against my cheek.

 

“How _are_ you doing, Josie?” He asks, causing me to duck my head, biting my bottom lip, remembering when I got the news.

 

_Last week I’d gotten a call at work from Cassie and Lysander, they both had the biggest grins on when I answered the call, and when they relayed the news about the successful cure found and administered to mom, I about burst into tears right there. We’d managed to organize a meeting on Aya, feeling that the beautiful of the planet should be mom’s planetary visit, and they hung up, leaving me to clear it with Evfra. Walking over to the resistance HQ, the guards don’t bother trying to stop me as I walk past them, and Evfra is standing in the middle of the crowd of female Angara once again, trying to do damage control, but I walk through them without a single care, wrapping my arms around the middle of my friend’s torso._

 

_“Josie,” He rumbles, placing a hand on my head as the females all fall silent, a few shoot me dirty looks as I quiver in Evfra’s arms, causing him to beckon another Angara over to deal with the women as he leads me back to his office. “What’s the matter?” He inquires, removing my arms from around him to set me in a chair._

 

_“My… mom.” He pauses at that, I’d told him of the incident with my mother in the past. “Sh-She’s awake.”_

 

_“I see…” He leans down to rest a hand on my shoulder, looking me in the eyes as I look up at him._

 

_“She’s cured.” He blinks at that, and I frown as I grip my arms, holding them tightly against my sternum, looking down. “It’s been years, but I’ve gotten used to her being dead- Now she’s coming here for a visit, and…”_

 

_“You are unsure how to feel.” He finishes for me._

 

 _“Yes.” I nod hesitantly, looking back up at him. “Will I still feel the parental love that I barely got? Will she adore me now that Cassie and Lys are that much older than me? Or… will I be the odd one out again? Like always?”_ _He frowns as he kneels down, pulling me into his arms, hugging me._

 

_“You will always have family here, with the friends you have made. You have made your own family.” Evfra says, causing me to cling to his hold myself, wrapping my arms around his head, revelling in the comfort of his arms._

 

“Josie?” Evfra’s tone is worried, drawing me back to the present as I look up at him, smiling as convincing as I can. “You are worried.” He sighs, caressing my cheek with his hand. “There is no need to worry, I am sure your mother misses and loves you very much. She will be joyous to see you again.”

 

“It’s not _her_ that I’m worried about. I’ve… had over 5 years to get used to the thought of her being dead, we travel over 600 years to a new galaxy, and I-I’m not the same helpless little girl anymore.” I shrug, looking up at him. “I was pretty young when she died, all things considered.” Evfra sighs, pulling me firmly into his arms, hugging me with all his strength. “E-Evfra?”

 

“I feel… You are strong,” He says, stepping back. “no matter what happens, you will get through it. I will help you.” He promises, caressing my cheek with his wide hand as I reach up to cover it, his glove the only barrier between our skin. There’s an undeniable heat, a tension, between us, an electrical current in the air that makes my heart sputter and pound in my chest.

 

“Th-Thanks, Evfra.” I murmur, stepping back just in time for the door to shoot open, revealing Lys and Cassie leading our mother through the door, her eyes are blindfolded, and the minute they stop, Cassie pulls the blindfold off.

 

“Josie…” My mom breathes, her eyes widen with tears in them. “Josie!” She dashes across the room, startling my siblings as she scoops me into her arms, causing my breath to hitch, freezing before I slowly wind my arms around her shoulders, hugging her as tight as I can, my eyes closed as tears burn them, and a smile spreads across my lips. “Josie Josie Josie! My little deer!”

 

“Mom!” I laugh, the two of us separating as Evfra rumbles with laughter behind me, causing me to shoot the blue Angara a dirt look.

 

“Little deer?” Evfra chuckles, my siblings look surprised at the Resistance Leader’s laughter, while my mother looks me over.

 

“Yes. You still are, in fact, my little deer.” She nods to herself, smiling at me. “Though I might just have to call you deer from now on. You aren’t so tiny anymore.”

 

“She’s barely 3 inches taller than you last saw her.” Lysander says, walking over to rest his elbow on my head, causing me to swat at him, scowling as Cassie smirks.

 

“Mom, this is Evfra De Tershaav. He’s the Leader of the Angaran Resistance, here on Aya.” I introduce, tugging her over to Evfra, who pauses under her watchful scour, her gaze sweeps up and down his tall stature, before she turns to me.

 

“I approve.” She states with a dead honest stare, eyes burning into my own.

 

“Uh… what?” I ask in confusion.

 

“When is the wedding? How many grandchildren am I expecting? What is the amount of average offspring an Angara produce? Are other Angara willing to accept her?” She shoots off to Evfra.

 

“Mom no!” I cry as my face starts to turn red, shaking my head and I hold out my hands to her. “No no no! We- Evfra and I aren’t- he’s just taken me in for the sake of the initiative and the Angara. I’m the initiative’s human ambassador.” I explain as my mother falls silent, glancing before Evfra, who has turned a bit darker, and myself, my cheeks burning with a blush, repeatedly, before she presses her mouth into a firm line, a blush coloring the apples of her cheeks.

 

“I-I see. Oh, that’s… My apologies, Evfra. I hadn’t realized that I was jumping the gun here.” She apologizes, causing my siblings to laugh as I hug her, and Evfra shakes his head.

 

“It’s quite alright. It’s a logical misunderstanding.” He relents, causing her to smile up at him, patting his cheek.

 

“That’s good young man.” She says, causing me to facepalm, shaking my head in disbelief. _She’s like a little old lady! Instead of a middle aged lady._ I find myself laughing at my thought. _Unbelievable._

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Ellen.” He greets.

 

“You as well, Evfra.” She says, smiling up at him, before she turns to me, looping her arm through my own. “Now, we must go out to eat, and you must tell me all about your work as an ambassador! I’m very anxious to hear how it is going.” She softly tugs me towards the door, I glance back at Evfra with a nervousness in my gaze. “Oh,” We turn back towards the others. “Cassie, Lys, come along. You as well, Evfra.” She tugs me from the office without allowing for a word of protest, leaving the others to reluctantly follow behind. The Tavataan is bustling with Angara, the five of us sitting as we look over the the menus, Cassie is eyeing me over the top of her’s, mouthing words at me.

 

_“Say something.”_

 

 _“_ **_You_ ** _say something.”_ I retort, causing her to narrow her eyes at me. _“What do you expect me to say?”_

 

 _“I could ask the same._ ” She sighs, before we both look up to see Lysander and Evfra staring at us, Evfra’s eyes turn to me as he smirks, shaking his head at me. Eyes dancing with amusement as his smirk falls, looking up at my mother as my eyes drop to my menu.

 

“So, Ellen, what was Josie like when she was younger?” My head jerks up, eyes wide at Evfra’s question, alarm in my eyes as I look at him, his eyes holding a playful and mischievous glint to them. My mother looks up at his question, her eyes sparkle happily.

 

“Little Deer? She was quite clumsy, tripping over everything, dropping things, it was an off day if we didn’t have a dish break in the house.” She giggles. “That’s why I call her Little Deer. Deer have frail little legs, and are very clumsy after they’re born, I thought it fit very well.”

 

“I see.” Evfra’s voice is full of laughter as I groan, planting my head on the table. “She’s not so clumsy now, but I have to wonder if she’s just good at hiding it.”

 

“ _Evfra._ ” I groan.

 

“Ah, yes, my Little Deer is good at hiding many things if need be. In fact, I’ve never seen her with another man other than Mikael.” My mother sighs. “I’ve given up hope of ever having grandchildren from her.”

 

“ _Muuuuum_!” I whine, causing her to laugh as Evfra chuckles, and my face starts to burn in my embarrassment.

 

“Oh, darling, it’s alright. It’s just a bit of fun!” My mother answers.

 

“Which reminds me, didn’t some of the others try to set you up awhile back?” Evfra asks, causing me to whine.

 

“Really? Why’re you bring this up now?”

 

“Oh, you made friends with some matchmakers, Little Deer? How sweet! Perhaps all is not lost yet.” My mother sound hopeful.

 

“Oh. My. Lord.” I grunt, smacking my head against the table, heat scoring my cheeks as the continue to speak, the two of them chattering like little old ladies, and seem to enjoy making me blush in embarrassment. I never let the serves take the menu back, so if need be, I can hide behind it.

 

“That’s hilarious!” Mikael laughs as he sits on the other side of the screen, laughing as I bury my face in my hands, groaning in embarrassment. “Your mom’s always been awesome, but you’re a stiff. How did Evfra respond?”

 

“He laughed at her dumb nickname.” I answer, causing him to chuckle. “Then at lunch, they chattered like little old ladies! Embarrassing me constantly!” I grip my pillow in my arms tighter. “It was ridiculous!”

 

“It was them bonding. You should be happy.” Mikael answers, causing me to snort.

 

“You mean _you_ should, more fodder for that friendfiction that you’re no doubt writing.” I retort, causing Mikael to grin smugly.

 

“At least your mom approves of him. It always sucks when the parents don’t approve of the people you like.” Mikael answers, causing me to narrow my eyes at him.

 

“You’re just _so_ sure you’re going to win this bet, aren’t you?”

 

“Please, Maraschino, you’ve already lost, and don’t even know it!”

 

“Sure.” There’s a knock at my door. “I’ve gotta go, Mikael. Talk later.” I hang up the vidcall after Mikael says goodbye, turning to the door. “It’s open.” I call, causing the door to open, revealing Evfra. “What’s up?”

“What’s. Up?” He asks, causing me to cover my mouth as I giggle, shaking my head.

 

“Earth saying. What do you need?” I inquire, causing him to grin.

 

“Ah,” He steps into the room, crossing to my bed, before he sits down. “I was wondering if you were alright? You went right to your room after we bid your mother and siblings goodbye.” He pauses. “And I wished to apologize for lunch, Lysander explained that it might have been rude to let you become so embarrassed by your mother and I’s conversations.”

 

“It’s no big deal, ‘Fra. You were bonding. Just needed… time, to myself. That’s all. Too many people, too much conversation, too much too much.” I explain, causing him to nod.

 

“I see. Shall I leave you to your devices?” He inquires, causing me to smile.

 

“Yeah, thanks Evfra. I’ll see you at dinner.”

 

“Yes, Josie. I shall see you at dinner.” He says as he stands, leaving the room. As he shuts the door, I let out a shuddering breath of relief, slumping down in my chair, exhaustion seeping through my bones. It was a long day.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing Evfra, so he might be a bit OOC. I'm trying my best.
> 
> Check my Tumblr for updates!  
> https://gamergirl2170-arts-updates.tumblr.com/


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